Blah Blah Blah...

2011-07-23T21:43:00.001+08:00

I got back my common test results, and I really thank God for letting me do the best I could have done. I thought Math was a sure-fail , but it turned out, to my surprise, that I managed to get a distinction (Grade 6). I was a little disappointed with English, and especially Econs, where I got a grade 5 for both. But at least I’m really happy I did well for Physics and Chemistry, which got Grade 7. It turned out from this exam that Chemistry is my strongest subject, followed by Physics. Even though I de-proved overall by one point from last year’s promos (38 points), I think my results are fine at the moment. At least it gives me ample room to improve before the final exam, and hopefully I peak at the right time.

For the past month, I’ve been thinking really hard, trying to find out what’s wrong with tf attendance. I know attendance isn’t the only indicator of healthy growth, and it’s not the most important. But not knowing why this is happening makes me feel worse as a tuan zhang. I kept asking myself whether there was anything I wasn't doing right, wondering if it was my fault, and sometimes even thinking if I should have taken up the role this year. Well, till now, I don’t have an answer - I can’t account for the dismal attendance. But what Jacky told me today has given me a new perspective on things – those who come are truly seeking spiritual growth. So I could see it as like some sort of “pruning”, filtering those who truly want to be involved in fellowship, and those who aren’t really sincere about it. Sorry if I offend anyone, because I truly don’t mean to. In fact, I hope this serves as both encouragement and advice. Skipping church to pursue something else “for the glory of God” is something I feel strongly against, and which I find quite ironic.

2011-07-09T23:53:00.001+08:00

Wow it’s been quite a while since I posted.. Now, I’m finally enjoying my long overdue June holiday. I’m going to relax all I want this long weekend (since I don’t have papers on Monday and Tuesday next week) before school starts again on Wednesday.

My exams went fine I guess. I’m quite happy with Physics, Chem and Econs, and as usual, I’m worried about English, but I guess it didn’t go too badly. Yes, the subject I’m most worried about is Math. I didn’t expect the first paper to be so hard. There were quite a few questions that stumped me, and they really threw me off course till I didn’t have any confidence for the rest of the paper, making my performance even worse. For the second paper, I didn’t die so badly because I was already mentally aware that I’d have to find some way to rescue my marks, so tough or not, I’d have to fight the questions out.

Ah well, I’ll see how when the results are finally out. I my marks will be in decreasing order: Physics, Chem/Econs, English, Math. Hopefully I can scrape 39 points to improve by one point this year.

Anyway, yesterday, after the last 2 papers, I went out with some people in my class to Pizza Hut for lunch. At night, I went for the President’s Young Performer’s Concert with Jie Ying, and it was an enjoyable one. I still smile to myself whenever I think of what the person sitting behind us said during the intermission..

I’ll be going to Universal Studios with my class on Monday. I hope I don’t throw up or anything after the rides. I’m really not an adventurous person.

2011-06-25T22:34:00.001+08:00

I realised I haven’t posted for quite a while. Well, since I’m waiting for Jean to log off the other computer, I shall use this time to type.

After getting back from church camp last week, I suffered some sort of “jet lag” for about 3 days. I couldn’t help but spend most of the time sleeping or trying not to fall asleep while trying to study. I went for the scholarship interview last Friday, which went pretty alright. I tried my best, but I would be able to accept it if I don’t get it. Frankly, even if I do, I’m not sure what I’d do about it yet..

Ok Jean’s done, I’ve got to go. Exams start on Monday. Argh!

2011-06-03T00:00:00.001+08:00

This week is Week 11 – Yes, not the June holidays yet. I’ve been going back to school every day for extra lessons/Focus (concentration) camp. I’ve been doing quite a bit of studying this week, in preparation for common tests.

Yesterday, I performed with the rest of the string ensemble at The Arts House for the Live! Singapore Showcase. I didn’t know it was a high-profile international event till recently.. But anyway it wasn’t too late. It’s the performance I mentioned last week – the one with iPad2s and electronic music. The “game” was fun and though I didn’t manage to land a turn on getting to play the iPad2 during the actual performance, it was a fun experience rehearsing/playing anyway. The music is quite atonal, all the way till the second last chord – the last chord being tonal to show the audience that we can actually play in tune. Chance music can be quite interesting, because it keeps you on our toes during every run through – you never know what might happen. Ah isn’t that so much like life… Ok I shall stop attempting to be philosophical.

This holiday seems so short – there’s so much work I need to accomplish within this month. I think this feeling is going to be pretty much the same until I finally clear the final IB exams at the end of the year. Part of me looks forward to that… But, I’m really enjoying school life, so no, I don’t really want it to end yet.

Now, off to sleep..

2011-05-24T22:00:00.001+08:00

I realised I haven’t posted for about a month. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t get myself to sit down to type one out. I haven’t even visited this blog much. So I’m typing this post in an attempt to kick my blog back to life.

Now, I’m no longer 17 years old. Why must I turn 18 just when I start getting used to being 17? Anyway, putting my grievances aside…

I had a nice birthday celebration this year. I celebrated it in a total of four parts, each with a different group of people who play important roles in my life.

Lately, I’ve been going back for cca again, even thought SYF is over. That’s because some of the people from the secondary as well as college section will be representing the school to perform for LIVE! Singapore. Our performance is on 1 June. It’s quite exciting because there are elements of chance in the music. There are 3 iPad stations where most players will take turns to anyhow play tones using a few apps on them. It’s in the form of like a game, where each musician is assigned a number, and in my case, if I happen to hear the note F being played 4 times at a particular section, then it’s my turn to go play with the iPad. It’s the first time I’m playing atonal music, so this has been a pretty interesting experience so far.

If I get a scholarship, should I go overseas to study? It seemed really thrilling to me at first, something I’d really wanted. But when I thought about it seriously, I started doubting if I could bear to leave my family, relatives and friends behind. It’s like, I won’t know what will happen when I’m not around in Sg, and anything can happen at anytime. And I don’t want to suddenly be faced with a situation I didn’t expect, and then regret not being able to be around before it happened. I don’t know if anyone knows what I’m getting at, and I don’t really wish to be specific about it, but yea, that’s a concern. I’m typing this because I’m one final interview away from getting a scholarship. Whether it’s God’s will or not for me to get it, it’s up to Him and I guess I will submit to whatever plans He has for me.

2011-04-28T23:04:00.001+08:00

Gold for SYF today! I’m really happy at the results. After 3 months of hard work while juggling the long list of deadlines, it’s finally over. Actually, not quite. We still have to go back to school this Saturday to perform for the open house for primary school kids. Though the orchestra was really small compared to other schools (16 people), I’m glad we managed to rise above that limitation.

Just a brief summary since I don’t think I ever posted anything much about the SYF. We played the last movement of Dvorak’s serenade for strings, and Sibelius’s Cavantina. About a month before the SYF, we decided to play without a conductor. A week before it, we decided to play it without scores, and standing up in a unique formation. I honestly learnt a lot through this experience. Like getting used to watching others around me, responding to others playing, paying attention to the musical expression and technical stuff like how to achieve specific effects on the violin. It’s not that I didn’t manage to pick up anything the past year, but just through this SYF experience, I feel like I’ve grown up more as a musician. What’s music if we don’t let it speak?

Yesterday, I retook the quick study component for my diploma. I hope I manage to pass it this time.

Last but not least, I’m glad smss got a silver today. I remember being really disappointed almost exactly 2 years ago. Ah remember the days…

2011-04-17T21:02:00.001+08:00

The most important lesson I learnt this week: get your relationship right with God before trying to get it right with man.

I’m slightly sick – woke up with a sore throat, sneezed and sniffed throughout the day, just short of a fever to top things off.

SYF is coming up in about 2 weeks and my violin exam a day before that. Hope I’ll get through this tiring month and term in one piece.

Today, I watched the video of the magician who (actually) beheaded his wife while doing the famous trick of sawing through 3 boxes with a women inside. It was just disgusting. I was too scared to watch the video without closing my eyes nearing the part when that guy was going to saw his wife. Argh. Why do people even risk such things.. To me, life is too precious to be laid before a deadly magic trick.

2011-04-07T00:03:00.001+08:00

Finally, TOK presentation is over. I think it went quite well and I’m really satisfied with it. I did my presentation with xd and I have to say it was a really tough yet enjoyable journey, now that I look back at it. I didn’t start off intending to do pair work at first, but after considering after she asked me, I decided to give it a try. We started off from not knowing each other well, being in the same class, yet just mere acquaintances. But throughout the preparation, we got to know each other considerably better. All the blood, sweat and tears put into preparing it made this a really memorable experience for me. I didn't always look forward to all this stuff and now that the presentation is over, yes, I do feel relieved, but now I do miss it a bit.

Ah.. post-TOK presentation effects.

I need to get started on the rest of the stuff that I put on hold the past week, but I'm in holiday mood.

2011-03-28T21:05:00.001+08:00

I made a bad mistake during the cross-country run that day. During the trial run I had the Saturday before, I took a wrong turn near the end of the route, but I didn’t realise and no one else did either (because I was quite far behind). But the distance was around the same anyway. On the actual day, I took the wrong turn again because I thought the people in front of me were doing cool-down jog or something like that, so I insisted on my route, and none of the marshals stopped me when I turned. So I ran all the way and realised I took the wrong turn only when I ran up to a barricade which was leading to the finishing line. I was really panicking by then and I decided to run along the barricade toward the finishing line to see if there was any official I could talk to. I didn’t dare to turn back in case I got disqualified or something. But no, there was no official along the barricade, except for the finishing line, and it would be weird if I ended up there. So I had to run out again and run back in the legitimate way. Ah sigh.. What a run.

Anyway, all the training the past few weeks has motivated me to lead healthier lifestyle – by exercising more. I realised how bad my fitness level was when I started training and it was a good wake up call.

TOK presentation next Tuesday. I should go off to do some work now.

2011-03-21T00:48:00.001+08:00

YAYYYY!!! MY HOLIDAY IS OVER!

I’m glad I have no more Math port to suffer with, and no housework to worry about (at least not so much), and no more busy holiday schedule.

I’m really happy and high now.. I slept at 3am, took a nap this evening and I’m very alert now.

National cross country is this Wednesday. My timing improved by 3 minutes when I went for training yesterday (Saturday). I hope to cut it by a bit on the actual day. Running for God and not for myself.

2011-03-15T19:35:00.001+08:00

It’s Home Alone (with Jean) Day 2. Everything has pretty much been well here. Mom and dad are in Penang with ye ye and nai nai visiting relatives until Saturday.

Jean’s coming home from piano lesson soon and she’s buying back bread for tomorrow’s breakfast, salad and ice cream for tonight.

This week is really hectic. I hope I survive it. I have CCA four days a week, 2 of which are full-day rehearsals, cross country trainings (which I have been ponning), 2 scholarship assessments (each at least 4 hours long), a math portfolio to do and chem ia, both of which are contributing to my final IB grade. On top of all the school work, I have house chores to do and the constant need to plan for my survival the next few days. I’ve learnt to be realistic and I’ve set reasonable goals for my holiday (what holiday..).

1. Finish math
2. Finish Chem
3. Plan worship leading for Sunday
4. Keep myself alive

it’s not so bad I guess. I really enjoy CCA these days, maybe because of all the SYF prep.

2011-03-08T20:06:00.001+08:00

Ahhh great… I have a TOK essay to finsih, a TOK presentation to prepare, the EE to edit, and a math portfolio to start doing. On top of that, I have intensive SYF rehearsals during the holidays, plus training for the national cross country. I want the next three weeks to zoom past, asap.

2011-02-26T23:19:00.001+08:00

Whatever I thought would happen this Saturday didn’t happen. Instead, I took part in a cross-country event at Bedok reservoir. 4 girls including me ran as a team and we came in second. If I ran faster, acsi (girls) could have been first. Anyway, I guess I shouldn’t be too demoralised since the maximum I’ve run at one shot is probably only not even 2 km this year. So to finish 4.5 km without stopping was already a relatively good achievement for me, for now. I never thought I’d be doing something like this in my lifetime.

Talking about exercise, lately, I’ve realised my physical health has worsened a lot since secondary school days. Nowadays I’m running slower and getting weaker. Although I still managed to get a gold for NAPHA last year, I’ve suddenly come to realise I might not reach that if I don’t buck up soon. Sometimes I feel like blaming it on thalassemia minor, because, well, maybe that’s what’s making me tired when I run. When I look at others run, I always wonder whether they all feel as tired, and whether I could have pushed my physical limits more. Perhaps it’s trauma because I’ve felt really dizzy/weak/horrible after exercise quite a few times in my life, and maybe that results in my fear of getting tired.

Whatever the case, I shall relish feeling healthy for the next 2 days.

2011-02-23T20:25:00.001+08:00

I’m finally done with most of my tests for this term. Now I can concentrate fully (this sounds quite ironic) on my world lit essay, TOK essay, TOK presentation and EE. I’m too spoilt for choice on which to start doing. I’ve slogged through world lit for 2 nights in a row, trying to come up with solid points but I can only safely say I’m 1/3 done – with my rough outline. Gah. There’s a reason why I chose not to take lit in Sec 3…

This Saturday is going to be quite an interesting an exciting day. I’ll be discussing TOK presentation with xiaodi early in the afternoon, and then she’ll be going for TF with me. Sure this is something to be happy and thankful about, but after thinking about it for a while, it really leaves me feeling somewhat guilty and disappointed with myself. Why is it the first time I’m doing this?

2011-02-16T23:59:00.001+08:00

Exercising twice this week has just given me a (false) sense of healthiness. Yesterday, Sharon and I trained with the track cross country boys, but of course, we were given much lighter tasks. My teacher asked me to consider competing in cross country (in about 5 weeks), but fear being tired. Somehow, when I imagine myself run, it’s always this ideal situation when I don’t have to pant and feel like I’m going to die any moment. Then I get all motivated and when I actually start running, my nightmares just come true and there I am, plodding along the track, breathing hard and perspiring, hoping each breath isn’t the last. I can’t even run 2.4km without feeling exhausted, so I’m quite doubtful whether I’ll be able to finish 3.6km in one piece. Argh..

2011-02-05T23:15:00.001+08:00

I had a really long day out shopping today. Queenstown to IKEA to Vivo with mom, dad and Jean. And I coincidentally bumped into Grace (SMSS strings) while in Vivo.

I don’t know why I’m suddenly typing this down, but over the last year, one of the most important things I’ve learnt is about how average I am as a human. Sure, every one is seemingly “unique”, but from what I’ve seen, we’re all nearly the same.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Yay, I still have 2 more days of holiday. I think I’m probably one the few odd people with no school on Monday.

2011-02-04T21:14:00.001+08:00

I’m enjoying the second day of my long holiday, though I’m feeling quite tired already. My schedule during CNY has been very repetitive for as long as I can remember. This year wasn’t any different – and I actually feel some sense of security in the fact that things don’t change much.

On CNY eve, I had school in the morning (Jean didn’t even need to go to school) and the rest of the day was free. At night, we had a reunion dinner with both sides of my family at a restaurant in Harbour front. There are a few relatives whom I only see once a year, during CNY, so it was nice seeing them again and getting snippets of updates on their lives.

On the first day of CNY, I went to church in the morning for the annual CNY Thanksgiving service. Perhaps this is something unique to a Chinese church – and no, it isn’t superstition. I think it’s more of adapting to societal context and reaching out to the Chinese community while staying true to what we believe. After the service, I went for lunch with the maternal side of my family. My 2-year-old cousin, Ashlyn, suddenly seemed to like sticking to me. She kept visiting me at my side of the table and I was slightly stunned because I didn’t know how to entertain her. I kind of ended up analysing a red packet with her and then Jean and I asked her questions which we got ourselves very amused with. The innocence of a little child can really make you realise how much the world has corrupted your thoughts. She embraced being “fat” and she was honestly proud of herself. How many of people with her type of thinking can we see these days? I’ve seen none.

Moving on, in the evening, my family popped by at weichuan’s house to meet the Chinese students mom and dad are mentoring. We ate a bit and then left around 7 to go to nai nai’s house for the annual CNY steamboat dinner. I was extremely full at the end of all the eating for that day. At about 10, Jensen and his parents, Jean and I watched IP Man 2. Now I understand why this movie was so well received (especially by Chinese). Mom and dad were chasing us to go home but I just couldn’t leave the TV until the movie was over. So my parents, grandparents and aunt Rose spent the time chatting and we ended up going home at midnight – the latest in my CNY history.

Today, day 2 of CNY, was more slack. I woke up later in the morning and at around 11, dad, Jean and I went cycling at Upper Pierce reservoir. It’s the place with many ups and downs. I was having a hard time cycling because some other bike’s handle bar piled on top of my bike’s handle bar. It sat in the basement car park like this for a very long time and my front wheel was slightly bent to one side. So the brakes always got too near the wheel each revolution, and I ended up having to do more work against friction. It was really very tiring. Even cycling on flat road wasn’t easy. At first, I thought it was because of how unfit I am. But yes, I guess it could have been due to both the bike and myself. My thalassemia was acting up along the way and every pedal required sheer strength and determination. Anyway, we made it back home 3 hours later and I was dead tired. At least I think I’ve burned off about 10 pineapple tarts. What a long way to go…

2011-01-23T18:19:00.001+08:00

After going back to school for strings on Saturday (yesterday), I suddenly heard 92.4 play A-roving by John Rutter, the one SMSS strings played for SYF 2009. It did bring back memories of the months of fun, hard work, frustration, and ultimately, the actual performance. It’s an SYF year again and this time, I’ll be playing for another school. I think I haven’t commented much over here on my CCA yet. The main thing is, it’s quite different from SMSS. I learnt a lot while playing in SMSS, but I also learnt another set of things while playing in ACSI. In SMSS, the main focus was on technical stuff like intonation, rhythm etc. Not that it’s irrelevant now, but over the past year, I’ve also learnt more about musicality and experienced the art of orchestra-playing.

I have quite a few assignments to get done before Chinese New Year, and I hope I can finish as much as possible over this long weekend. Lately, I’ve been hooked on Cafe World and more lately, Cityville. Argh. This is terrible.

2011-01-12T21:05:00.001+08:00

O level results were out this week. Jean did rather well, meaning she can choose any JC she wants to go to. So now she’s deciding between some college in Bishan and my school. It’s during this period of time that people can either feel very happy, or very sad. Sometimes, happy, and then sad.

I met Jensen in school today! Finally, after a week, I am convinced of his existence.

Argh… I can almost see a mountain forming before my eyes. World lit essay, TOK presentation, TOK essay, EE and other IAs.

I’ve been busy with church stuff this week, settling beginning-of-year things. I probably haven’t mentioned it yet, but I’ve taken up the role as 团长 again for 2011. I know it’s going to be tough juggling that and school work, but I trust God will guide me along.

Ok I’m off to do some work.

2011-01-06T21:34:00.001+08:00

Results were released today and I got 7 points for Chinese. To be honest, I didn’t feel very relieved, overjoyed or thankful after getting the results. But I know I should at least be grateful I have 7 points in my pocket.

There are so many perfect scorers this year, and that’s making feel pressurised already. When I think of all the assessments I’ve yet to tackle, 45 points seems like a very long way off.

Anyway, 38 points to go!

2011-01-03T01:21:00.001+08:00

I’m finally back from TF camp. I’m still awake because I took a long nap today after coming home from church.

Thank God the camp went well. I wasn’t in the planning committee at first, but since I attended most of the meetings anyway, I became a part of it. A lot of effort was put into planning this camp and I’m glad it turned out well.

Camps in the past had always been filled with sermons, but this time, it was Bible study-based. So we split into groups for Bible study sessions. It was good because it allowed for more discussion and learning from each other, making lessons easier to absorb.

I got the chance to lead a group for Bible studies during the camp. I was quite panicy at first because even though I spent about 7 months last year learning how to read the Bible and lead Bible studies, I only had one practical experience about a month ago. Furthermore, Bible study was probably the most vital aspect of the camp in terms of a source for spiritual nourishment, so it felt like there was a great amount of responsibility attached. Though it was quite a challenge, I learnt the most from this year’s camp compared to the last 3 years – mostly because I had to make sure my knowledge was somewhat solid so I’d be able to lead my group. I was actually quite happy when I started hearing my group trying to be witty by applying the verses and lessons learnt directly to whatever was happening around them.

I didn’t manage to sleep much during the camp. On the first night, no one could fall asleep. I ended up sleeping around 3am. But I still managed to survive the next day. However, on the second night, I had a load of stuff to do – plan the worship for the next morning, prepare 2 Bible study sessions for the next day as well as the church watch night service which was going to be held in our chalet. That night, Jacky, Guo Feng and I sat downstairs in the living room preparing the Bible studies all the way till 4am. Xiao Jun stayed up and accompanied us downstairs. After a 3-hour nap, it was time to wake up again. That third day was super long. It stretched all the way till the watch night service which lasted till 12.30am, and then we had night games around Changi till about 5am. By the time I went to sleep, it was 7am and I was like a walking zombie. After a 3 hour nap, I had to wake up again.

The camp lasted till Saturday afternoon. From what everyone shared, I’m glad they enjoyed the camp and managed to learn something throughout the 4 days.

To me, this was probably the most memorable camp I’ve had. Not just the camp itself, but the planning behind it with the committee as well. More than 40% of the campers were either P6es or new comers, so in terms of outreach, there was a good improvement.

The watch night service also went rather smoothly, although I was quite worried about the time control so that we’d be able to count down to 2011 in time. We had to make adjustments along the way and my heart rate was probably soaring from 11pm onwards. From the feedback I received so far, I’m glad the service was meaningful to those who came.

The success of the camp and watch night service are not for me or the planning committees to gloat over, but rather for the glory of God.

After the camp, ruiquan’s parents, Guofeng, ruiquan, jasmine, siling, jean and I stayed over in the chalet for one more night because we had to book it for an extra day cus of the public holiday on 1 Jan. We slacked around, chatted, played and went out to Changi Village to buy dinner later at night. We slept at about midnight and woke up early to go to church today.

2010 has really been a memorable year.

2010-12-28T16:59:00.001+08:00

I feel like a maxed out credit card.

This week was mostly spent preparing for TF camp, which will last the next 4 days.

Christmas was well spent, I’d say. We had the annual Christmas dinner at my grandparents’ house. Everything from the pasta to the turkey and cheesecake were homemade, so it tasted good. This year, we didn’t have so much leftover turkey. I think it’s because Jensen is growing up and starting to eat a lot more. The four of us, Jensen, Jerome, Jean and I received brain teasers for Christmas presents. Jerome’s was the easiest and the rest of us got the toughest types. I spent the whole night trying to solve it and till now, I haven’t. I can’t even solve it while referring to the guided solution on the internet. I guess this can become some sort of lifelong quest.

2010-12-21T01:30:00.001+08:00

I’m too lazy to post pictures myself. So please refer to Jean’s blog for some (if you are too bored). I was reading her summary on our trip and there was one line that went, “we spent the whole day snowing”. I couldn’t help but just burst into laughter. Can’t imagine what she was thinking then.

I’m still awake at 1.30am because I slept too much today. I know I’m in for trouble because I’ll have to be in church from morning till night tomorrow for Christmas rehearsal. Ah well, I hope I survive.

Seoul - Day 5

2010-12-17T22:13:00.000+08:00

This morning, I woke up early and saw a fresh, white layer of snow outside. It wasn't very much though - obly about 2-3cm thick. But it was enough to make me happy seeing it before leaving for Singapore tomorrow.

Today, we joined a guided tour on to the De-Militarised Zone (DMZ), which is the 2km wide zone along the border on both sides of North and South Korea. In that zone, weapons are prohibited and there are soldiers on patrol. We walked through the 3rd tunnel built by North Korea and discovered by South Korea in 1978. Its unfinished end is just 58km from Seoul. Imagine if North Korea succeded in using that to attack.. The tunnel is 73m underground. Climbing back up from the tunnel was really tiring. The furthest we could go in the tunnel was just 170m from North Korea. We also went to visit other sites in the DMZ like the Doraesan Station and Freedom Bridge. Because of the North recently bombed a South Korean island, we couldn't go up the Dora observatory to look at North Korea.

The visit to ths DMZ was also like a crash course history lesson on the Korean War. I finally understand a little more about the war and the significance of the DMZ. If I ever get a chance to go again, I'd want to tour the Joint Security Area. We couldn't go this time because Singaporeans have to obtain permission at least a week before.

Before going to South Korea, I was a little worried about the increasing tension between the North and South in the wake of the recent bombings. But after living here for a week, I think the locals don't seem very concerned about the North. The people, from what I observed, are still calm. At least, more relaxed than the rest of the world watching them.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the Nandaemun area. We wanted to see the city gate but when we reached, it was under construction because a fire destroyed it in 2008. But there were lots of shops there, so we walked around. We bought stuff to cook from a supermarket and walked back all the way home.

My feet are really tired from all the walking this week. I did so much exercise without even realising. We have to wake up early tomorrow to catch the flight back to Singapore. I might post some pictures when I'm back, if I don't get buried under the pile of work waiting to fall on me when I'm back. Ok I'm going to get some rest.

Seoul -Day 4

2010-12-16T23:24:00.002+08:00

YAYYYY!!

IT'S SNOWING!

Or as dad put it, the flakes are called flurries. I couldn't seem to remember it very well because I kept thinking they were fluffies. It's been quite a few years since I last saw snow. The last time would be when we went to Seatle and Vancouver a few years ago. Sadly, I don't think it'll snow enough to make a snow man or throw snow balls at Jean.

Tiis morning, we visited another palace called Changdeok, which complements the main palace we visited yesterday - Gyeungbokgung. Both are listed on the World Cultural Heritage list for their architechture and historical value. I think the palace is largely influenced by Chinese design because the architecture is similar to that of buildings like the Forbidden City in China, although the Forbidden City looks more prestigious and elaborate to me.

We also went to take a cable car up Mt. Namsan. From there, we could look at the Seoul city scape. We decided not to go up the Seoul tower (we were at the base) because it wasn't worth it. At the peak, there was this area with railings filled with locks. People could go there to attach locks on the rails. The locks symbolised never-ending love. We spent quite a bit of time slowly reading through some of the cheesy love messages written on the locks.

We walked around the Hanoe Bukchon Ganoe village in the afternoon. The roads are really narrow and steep because the village is on a hill. Climbing through the streets was tiring but the view was rewarding.

In the evening till late at night, we walked around Dongdaemun. We went to a toy and stationary wholesale shopping area. Jean and I got a gopd supply of stationary and I took the opportunity to get gifts for the TF committee during the jiu zhi dian li next year. We also went walked around other shopping malls in the shopping district, where dad got himself a jacket. We picked up a tub of ice cream on the way home for supper.

The temperature today was -13 to -4°C. I think I got a brain freeze, so I can't think very well now.

We're going to the De-militarised Zone (border between North and South Korea) early tomorrow so I'd better sleep now.

Seoul - Day 3

2010-12-15T22:08:00.003+08:00

I feel very accomplished today.

We spent most of the day on foot. In the morning, we walked around Insadong, which is the area where we're staying. We visited shops along the roads, stopped by for tea at a tea house and a French bread eatery.

We gradually made our way to an old palace called Gyeongbokgung. When we reached, a mini demo ritual was taking place in the courtyard. Somehow, we got into the palace without even knowing we needed a ticket. After walking around the palace, we visited the National Folk Museum.

Most of the rest of the day was spent walking around a shopping district. We went to the Lotte shopping malls. They're really huge and have a wide variety of brands. The lightings are nice too, better than Orchard Road.

I've eaten ginseng chicken twice already. It seems to be quite popular here, and it's quite rare in Singapore.

The temperature today was -11°C. I survived it! That's why I'm feeling so accomplished. The wind chill was quite bad today too, making the cold even worse. To get a rough idea of how it felt, open your freezer and place your hand in the deep end for 10s. Now imagine there's cold wind inside your freezer and extend the time to about 12 hours. The cold stung my face and sometimes my nose seemed to lose connection with the rest of my face. Mom reminded me that in US, once the temperature climbed to 0°C or higher, Jean and I would already be out playing or cycling. I wonder how I survived that.

It was so cold today that any water seen on the ground was frozen. I even saw frozen spit on the ground.

Ok my phone's running out of battery so I'd better stop typing now.

Seoul - Day 2

2010-12-14T21:50:00.000+08:00

Today, I spent the whole day skiing at Jisan Ski Resort. We woke up early to catch a free shuttle bus which took us to the ski resort 1.5 hours away.

We started with the easy bunny hill to warm up before proceeding to the more challenging ones. While waiting for mom and dad to slowly inch down one of the easier trails, Jean and I decided to go exploring on our own. We went up the ski lift and had the option of either the green or blue trail. I thought blue was easier, so we settled for blue. Turns out, blue was the hardest - but we only realised after going through the trauma of skiing down the trail. The hill was so steep I couldn't even see the path ahead of me. It was like skiing off a cliff. I was going so fast I couldn't turn properly. At one point, I turned too sharply and ended up skiing down backwards. I lost my balance and fell backwards with my head crashing downhill. Thankfully, my head wasn't really damaged. However, my legs skiis were twisted and I couldn't move my legs without twisting my left ankle. I started to panic because there was no one to help me get up. I decided to calm down and think of a solution. Finally, I managed to slowly inch myself up after a minute. I continued on my way downhill and fell one more time before finally reaching the base. I'm thankful I managed to ski down the hardest trail in one peice. But that was a really traumatising experience.

Most of the rest of the time was spent on the green trail, which is the second hardest level. I went on it at least six times and it was the trail I was most comfortable with. I was able to ski down the steep parts well, and I more or less perfected my turning.

We left the ski resort at about 5pm and I felt tired but really happy because I had the chance to ski again, and this time for as long as I could. When I was young, skiing was my favourite sport, even though I couldn't do it often. Today, it's still my favourite.

The temperature tonight is about minus 5 degrees Celsius. I was very cold when we go off the shuttle bus. For dinner, we bought back food and cooked it in our apartment. Food eaten at home somehow tastes better.

Seoul - Day 1

2010-12-13T23:09:00.000+08:00

We reached Seoul this afternoon and took a bus to our serviced apartment. I'm really pleased with where I'll be spending the next few nights. The apartment is quite big and Jean and I have our own rooms. It feels a lot like home here.

After settling down, we went out in search for dinner. While walking along the streets, we went into Uniqlo and discovered that the winter stuff there are really nice and reasonably priced. I ended getting a jacket and long-sleeved heat-tech shirt.

For dinner, we ate Korean food, which was delicious and cheaper than what I usually see in Singapore. Kimchi was served free of charge, and most things were spicy (poor Jean).

The temperature here is around 0-5 degrees Celsius. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we'll be going skiing tomorrow. That'll make it the fifth time in my life, as far as I can remember. I hope my skiing didn't deprove too much.

Alright, that's all for today. The time here is one hour faster than that of Singapore's.

2010-12-12T23:59:00.001+08:00

I’m off to South Korea tomorrow morning. I really hope the North doesn’t get too agitated and throw any missiles or nuclear bombs.

I have so many things on my mind. This whole December is crazily busy. With the mission trip finally over, I can worry about other things now. Just trying to list out everything in my head makes my heart rate increase. Sigh. During this holiday in Korea, I’m going to make it a point not to worry myself about other things. I want to enjoy my short holiday before I receive my full-blown torture next year.

Just now, dad was looking through the Korean won he exchanged for. He realised that the notes in the whole stack were consecutive. The notes were crisp and new, and no one could bear to use them. I helped to take a picture of the nice series of numbers before he distributed them among the Chans (in consecutive numbers).

Here’s a related fact about myself: The dollar notes I keep at home are always arranged in order of their values and serial numbers. I’m just wondering, does anyone else do that too? It makes me happier because my notes are neatly arranged and I can easily select the older notes (in terms of their numbers) I want to use. And yes, I activate my notes in ascending order of their serial numbers, i.e. from the oldest to the newest.

2010-12-11T01:58:00.001+08:00

Today, i went to help mindsville with the children's wing outing to watch Walking with Dinosaurs. I partnered X before for a recent walkathon. He requires a lot of hand holding and he has difficulties walking on his own. I usually try to ask him yes/no questions because his speech is impaired. When he saw me, he was smiling and waving happily. Before i knew it, he hobbled up to me and grabbed my hand. He paced around the waiting area and took me around, pointing at various objects, looking for my approval, then smiling and going along to another area. When it was time to board the bus, he went into the bus and patted the seat next to his. I suddenly remebered i left my ez link card at the security post and promised him i'd be back after going to retrieve it. When i got onto the bus, another helper was already sitting next to him, so when he saw me walk pass, i waved and made my way to the back to sit with jean.

When we alighted, X quickly grabbed hold of my hand again and we made our way into the indoor stadium. The stage set had scary-looking jaws protruding from the sides and the stadium was very dark. When we were just about to move down from the corridor into the stands, X suddenly grunted and jerked away. Despite gentle pursuasion from the teachers, jean and i, he was too scared of the dark and didn't want to sit in the stands. He agreed to stand above the seating area and watch the performance from there. I continued holding his hand and stood there with him while the rest went to take their seats. Rose tried to get him to hold other teachers' hands instead so i could sit down to enjoy the show, but he refused. I didn't mind, so i spent the next 2 hours of the performance holding his hand and standing beside him. One of my greatest fears was that thalassaemia minor would get the better of me since i'd have to stand for a very long time. I tried my best to get good blood circulation and although i felt slightly dizzy at times, thankfully, the episodes faded off quickly. As i held X's hands, i could feel his hands trembling slightly as the show started, and his grip tightening when the dinosaurs appeared and started roaring. The anxiety he felt might have been many times worse than whatever was on my mind. Sometimes, he'd make sudden noises, or beat his chest and smile at me (what he usually does, but i'm not sure what it means). The row of people sitting in front of us would turn back occassionally, and i'd just smile apologetically. Sometimes i did feel sorry that they had to put up with so much noise, but there were other times when i thought that it really wasn't anyone's fault.

The performance finally came to an end after what seemed like a jurasic period. We endured the 2 hours and our hands were very sweaty. I walked him back to the bus that came to pick the children up and i went off to the mrt station.

I reached home late after catching a movie with jasmine, andrew, rui quan and jean. I received a msg from rose just now saying how i made X feel special today. To be honest, it felt like the other way round. X made me feel special today because he chose me over his teachers. I know it sounds childish, but yeah.

Sadly, one day, he will have to be confined to a wheel chair. It makes me wonder why life is... What it is.

Mission Trip 2010

2010-12-08T16:53:00.004+08:00

I’m back from the mission trip. I reached home past midnight this morning and slept all the way till noon. Now, I’m feeling refreshed although slightly overwhelmed by the workload that awaits me.

The mission trip team

This was my second mission trip to 大谷地 (Arunothai, Thailand). 大谷地 is in Northern Thailand, situated near the border between Myanmar and Thailand. Although the job scope for the mission trip team was similar to that of last year’s, I felt that I participated more actively this time, taking on slightly greater responsibilities and getting to know the children living in 主恩之家 on a more personal level.

Night devotion in 主恩之家

We attended the night devotions with the rest of the children in 主恩之家 – something we didn’t do last year. I had the opportunity to lead the devotion on one of the nights. I shared a few verses from Proverbs 3:5-6 and ended off by teaching them the song 我需要有你在我生命中. I was quite nervous about leading the devotion because it was an impromptu kind of thing, and I had less than a day to prepare it. People who’ve worked with me before would know that I’m the sort of person who likes to plan things early and avoid the unavoidable as much as possible. This experience, however, was memorable because in my areas of weakness, God showed how he could use me, even at the last minute.

The first night teaching children English

We were asked to help teach the children at 恩惠小学/中学 English at night. We decided to teach from Primary 4 to Sec 1, which consisted of 5 classes. For the first night, we taught two classes at a time using the church hall. We played a children’s story in English and projected the words in English. While explaining the story, we found that most of the children could not understand enough English to know what the story was about. After some evaluation, we decided to change our teaching strategy. Each of us was to take a class for the remaining two nights and use English Christian songs to teach them.

Just before splitting up to teach the children English

Teaching the P5 class English

A picture taken with some students from my P5 class.

I was in charge of teaching the Primary 5 class (there was only one for that level). Although all of them were in Primary 5 (according to the standard of their Chinese), their ages ranged from approximately 9 to 15. On one hand, I had to deal with less enthusiastic teenagers who didn’t like being treated as kids, and on the other hand, young children who could be very noisy at times. One thing I liked about the way things were done in the school was that the lesson always began with a prayer led by one of the children in the class. Once, when I was trying to get the class to quieten down, one of the children pointed to a cane hanging on the wall, but I didn’t want to command attention from all of them like that. I taught them some songs, actions and the meanings of words. I tried my best to make the lesson as engaging as possible. On one occasion, I ended up drawing a violin on the board. Although I walked out of the classroom each time with my throat feeling sore, the pain was worth it. At the end of my last lesson, I told my class I was happy teaching them, and encouraged them to learn English well. The class gave me a really loud farewell greeting. A few children came up to talk to me, asked me to write my name on their exercise books. One of them even asked for my email. I really enjoyed teaching my class. To me, standing in front of the class and greeting them each time were moments I’ll never forget.

The campfire at 主恩之家

On Thursday night, I helped lead a campfire for the children in 主恩之家. We sang songs and I prepared constellation maps so we could do some star gazing. Stars are really one thing I like, because they remind me of how small I am compared to the universe, but how God still cares for this tiny speck.

Preparing for the children's gospel rally

Children's gospel rally

Children in my station using plasticine to make a model of a giraffe

The station I was in charge of: plasticine modelling

We held a gospel rally for the children in the school on Saturday morning. There were activity stations around the school, each manned by one of us. The stations aimed to bring out essential evangelical messages. I was in charge of the station about God’s creation. Communication with the children was a bit difficult because my Chinese wasn’t very good and they understood Thai better. There were also a number of children from minority ethnic groups who could not understand me. Thankfully, a teacher attached to my station helped me to translate. At the end of the activity time, I was alone in the classroom trying to pack up the materials. Suddenly, 2 girls from my Primary 5 class came into the classroom and asked if they could help me with anything. I was rather touched by their actions because I didn’t expect them to remember me, or even help me clear up.

Xiao Jun teaching the teachers English

逐家布道

On one of the mornings, I decided to take a break from helping xj teach the teachers English so I could join the rest for 逐家布道 (door to door evangelism). We went to a refugee area nearby. It was a really beautiful place to live at because there was a lake, fields of crops and mountains in the background. The people we visited were very friendly and welcomed us into their homes. One of the women we spoke to claimed that she was sin-less. She said she never did anything wrong before – never lied – and she has always been living a happy life. We were taken aback and didn’t know how to counter her claims. Although I spotted some contradictions in her arguments, I had no idea how to express myself in Chinese, so I just kept quiet. But this experience has reminded me that the mission trip is a spiritual battle.

Outing at the waterfall with 任焕、me、Xiao Jun、海惠、Jean、家威

A picnic by the waterfall

Last year, I regretted not getting to know the youth in 主恩之家 better. This year, I can safely say I’ve gotten to know them more. Xiao Jun, Jean and I spent our free time chatting with some of the youth my age - 任焕、海惠 and 家威. 任焕 and 海惠 woke up early to take Xiao Jun, Jean and I on morning walks to the town and to visit the market. On Saturday afternoon, They brought us to visit a waterfall and hot springs. We climbed up a bit of the waterfall and had a picnic together.

A picture taken with 李牧师, his wife and the mission trip team just before setting off

Leaving 大谷地 this year was harder. We’d gotten to know the youth much better this year by joining them for their night devotions, playing basketball in the afternoons and going out together during our free time. Thankfully, we can still keep in touch through the Internet.

I enjoyed this trip very much and if given the chance, I’ll go out to serve God again.

Me riding a motorcycle – I think I got the hang of it already!

A lake at 大谷地

Dipping in the hot spring

家威 getting baptized

海惠 getting baptized

2010-11-29T18:02:00.001+08:00

This is where I’ll be living for the rest of the week. Going to Northern Thailand (大谷地 / Arunothai) for a short mission trip. I found the picture using Google Earth. I was quite surprised I even managed to find it because it took 3 hours to get there and I wasn’t paying attention to the road, so I had no idea how I ended up in 大谷地 last year. I’m quite sure this picture is correct because I roughly remember the surrounding roads and houses, as well as the shape of the compound.

Regarding my previous post, please ignore it. I was just venting my frustration for a while. Now that I can think slightly more rationally now, I’ve decided to think through my options first before diving into anything. The problem now is the deformation of the tennis ball.

On another note, why is it so hazy and smelly now? It’s really very terrible. My nose isn’t liking the strange, strong smell and I can hardly see anything in the distance outside.

2010-11-29T11:59:00.001+08:00

ARGHHHH. Frustration.

I’m so sick and tired of dropping balls onto string beds and now it looks like I have to do it again. I’ve done it at least 5000 times and the thought of doing another set of readings just makes me want to give up on my EE. You could say I’m traumatised by my experiment already.

I think I’ll give myself a break first. Go swimming/do violin practice then worry about this later. I thought I could settle everything by today before the rest of my December gets eaten up by other activities. Sigh.

The pain of editing

2010-11-26T10:34:00.001+08:00

I finished my first draft of my EE, so after meeting my supervisor, I’m on to my second. There are so many things to change and it took me 4 days to somewhat get over the pain of changing stuff. Now, that’s just the first part because I haven’t actually finished doing what needs to be done yet. The thought of having to alter something you spent hours coming up with just.. I don’t know.. stings? Maybe it’s because of my stubbornness or unwillingness to change (both for the better and for the worse).

Ok I think I should stop procrastinating here and get the work done.

2010-11-23T21:11:00.001+08:00

I went to watch the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s open rehearsal today. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I was part of the audience they were trying to film for a movie. They’re really very, very good. But probably too good for me to properly appreciate the goodness. While I was there, I suddenly realised that smss strings was there too. Joan and Jolene were waving frantically – I might have seen them, but I probably didn’t look hard enough. Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise and I had some time to catch up with them and some others.

I was listening to the news just now. Bangkok and South Korea seem to be (more) politically unstable now. If I don’t get held up in Bangkok next week, I might (touch wood) get bombed by North Korea the following week. And if all that happens, I can forget about my pile of work I need to complete this holiday! Just kidding.. I really hope nothing bad happens.

It’s nearing the end of the year - time to reflect on how I’ve spent this year. As I look back now, it’s been a short, yet long year. It seems to have passed by quickly, but when I think of all the things I’ve gone through this year, it seems long. Alright, enough for now.

2010-11-16T19:28:00.001+08:00

This is one of the benches I occupied. Here, you can see a wide range of nylon fishing strings with varying diameters. I could almost open a small fishing shop.

Apart from doing my EE, I’ve spent most of the rest of the past few weeks going back to school for strings because of the concert coming up on Saturday.

It was Jean’s birthday yesterday, so nai nai, ye ye, Jerome, Jean and I went for lunch at Jack’s Place after I was done with CCA. After a heavy meal, we went bowling with Jensen at SAFRA. I think I’m very unfit. I got a muscle ache in my thighs after yesterday’s bowling, even though it felt like I hardly exercised while at that.

One more reason to exercise – Jean’s birthday cake.

I’ve been typing this post on and off the past 2 hours because I’ve been trying to write the abstract for my essay at the same time. I think I’ll end off here because I’ve already forgotten what I intended to type. Yea, my poor multi-tasking skills..

2010-11-10T19:22:00.001+08:00

My holidays are supposed to have begun this week, but it doesn’t quite feel like a holiday yet. I just finished data collection for my EE yesterday, so now I’m busy writing out the essay. I’m almost at 3000 words. Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel…

My EE in pictures:

My 2-storey window-pulley system. The mass is dangling on the handle.

My initial model which I constructed out of scraps I found in some corners of the labs.

The actual setup for the first part of my investigation.

The wooden frame – I sawed and put it together. Yes, I’m quite proud of it.. It was my first time sawing wood. As Tim put it, “murdering pieces of wood…”

The setup for the second part of my investigation. If you see the background, almost the whole lab is empty. There’s usually only a maximum of 3 people working in the lab (and it’s the same few of us) at any one time. Over the past few weeks, I slowly expanded my territory and conquered 2 whole benches.

The tennis racquet which I brought from home and cut up in school.

2010-11-01T17:22:00.001+08:00

Life has been ok so far. I got back results last week and I’m glad I did reasonably well. In terms of my average score, I didn’t improve nor de-prove. But in terms of grade points, I increased by 1 (a good thing). This means that I evened out my scores, so the next step for me is to push everything up to a 7.

I went to the Physics lab to work on my EE this morning, since there was no school. The good news – I improved my setup and I’m moving on to my actual experiment. The not-so-good news – I’ve only managed to take 2.5 sets of readings of part 1 of 3 of my investigation. The rate of progress is practically zero. And today, when I dropped the mass outside the window, someone started pulling on it and wouldn’t let go for a few minutes. I wasn’t too annoyed, but I still wonder why people do such things.

2010-10-24T17:29:00.001+08:00

Last week, I woke up in the morning thinking about TOK on one of the TOK focus days. The past 3 mornings, I woke up realising that I was dreaming about my EE. Each dream had something to do with trying to improve my setup (which I’m not done with). I seemed to manage to find (or nearly find) a solution to setup problems at the end of each dream. But whenever I tried to think about what the solution was, I always couldn’t seem to recall. Till now, I can’t. I hate my conscious mind.. It really restricts my thinking.

2010-10-20T23:01:00.001+08:00

I tried living the life of a philosopher (or thinker) the last three days, and I’m spending the next three days of this week living like a researcher.

Today, I started work on my Physics EE. I’m doing something on tennis racquet strings and the elasticity of the string bed. I went through so much trouble trying to complete the setup of my experiment. The most annoying thing I had to consider was making sure string tension was kept constant when I tried to string my model. Oh yes, not to forget, I spent the whole morning trying to construct a suitable model. Back to string tension.. I tried using a pulley system by lowering a mass down the building from the window of the Physics lab on the 2nd floor. Some people who walked from the canteen to the classroom block were observant enough to notice a mass dangling from above. At one point, the string holding the pulley from the window snapped and I was in a state of shock. Thankfully, the mass didn’t crash onto the ground or worse still, on an unfortunate person’s head.

After spending 6 hours working in the lab, I only managed to generate one preliminary set of data, and I’m thinking of changing my model and setup again tomorrow. I’ll have 8 hours to do that.

After CCA, I was talking to someone who was doing Econs EE and she already completed 1800 words (while people like me still haven’t settled their setup). What’s more, she said the Econs people spent the day slacking, eating Macs and plying guitar hero. Gah… Science is all about perseverance. But I must say, I did enjoy the process of working around my problems and scouring the physics labs for any tools and material I could possibly use.

Looks like the lab is going to be my second home for the next few weeks..

2010-10-18T23:21:00.001+08:00

I’m almost brain-dead from thinking of TOK practically the whole day. This week, I’ll be climbing Mount EETOK(IA). Hopefully I’ll reach the summit in one piece.

EETOKIA stands for Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and Internal Assessments.

Till my brain is in better shape, I’ll post again.

2010-10-06T15:54:00.001+08:00

I don’t know why, but I feel quite quite relaxed now. The truth is, I’m only halfway through my exams. But so far, the papers have been ok, in that I haven’t been slaughtered too badly. Today’s math paper was also especially fulfilling. No, I didn’t know how to do every single question, but I managed to work through most of them. This is in direct contrast to my first class test (where I nearly failed) and common test when I felt a tremendous sense of guilt after the paper and only managed 6 points (equivalent to an A2).

Oh and all the talk about my principal has been quite interesting but shocking as well. I was very surprised when I received an sms from my uncle asking to confirm if my principal really resigned. My first reaction – disbelief. And then, when it slowly sank in, I wondered if the school would survive. There’s just this sense of uncertainty till now, like riding a bike with your eyes closed. I’ve yet to see what will happen from now on. It was almost 10pm when the news was broadcasted. But the whole school knew about it even before the Board could give an official announcement the next morning. News like this sure spreads round the school community really fast. I saw some reporters standing around in school, probably trying to get some students to be interviewed. Of course, we were told not to entertain them. But somehow, I think the media is a more reliable source of information. It seems like the school is trying to keep something away from us. Like while announcing, they didn’t explicitly say there was a complaint lodged. They kept emphasizing on health issues, retirement, enjoying life etc. But in their press statement, they admitted that there was a complaint lodged. Stuff like that are what make me think the school is trying to withhold information or hide something from the rest of the population.

2010-10-01T20:41:00.001+08:00

Happy children’s day!

I still remember, exactly a year ago, I took the O level music performance exam.

Quite coincidentally, today was the start of my exams (not including Chinese prelims last last week). So far, it’s been ok. I’ve just been killed a bit, but not too bad. I hope I’ll show more improvement.

Actually, part of me doesn’t want exams to be over. Because once exams are over, firstly, I’ll have to face my results. Secondly, I have to start on my EE. Thirdly, I have to write the TOK essay. The list could go on, but I think I’ll stop here. In short, life after exams is just going to get busier.

I’m still considering something which I can’t really reveal yet. I’m unsure about what to do for now. I’m still waiting for an answer, or so I think. I typed this so anyone who happens to pass by can help pray for me, that I’ll have the wisdom and courage I need to make the right decision. (Thanks)

Oh and I just remembered, less than half my class turned up for school yesterday – 11/28. Other classes were worse, one I heard only had 5 people. I considered pon-ing school at first but decided not to because it didn’t agree with my moral standards (because I’d have to end up lying that I was sick). But anyway, it was a really enjoyable day because of the small class size. I could ask any question I wanted, and managed to do self-studying, so the day didn’t seem wasted after all. One more thing - I played water polo for PE, which was quite fun.

2010-09-25T23:54:00.001+08:00

I don’t know if I should be freaked out or not. I posted this on Friday, July 30, 2010:

On Wednesday, while having recess in the SAC (canteen) with classmates, I finished my plate of noodles and was waiting for the rest to finish theirs. Suddenly, a young boy (year 3 or below) carrying a pack of Oreos suddenly walked towards me and took my plate away. I was quite stunned at first and didn’t have time to react before he turned to walk away. After trailing him, my friends and I realised he wasn’t trying to play a prank or anything – he put my plate back to the correct stall container. This incident left quite an impact on me because I regretted not acting fast enough to thank him (and partly because I had no idea why I was his only target).

Yesterday, during recess, I went to queue at the usual rice stall with Sharon in front of me. There actually wasn’t really much of a queue. There was a guy who had just gotten his food, so he turned around from the counter to move off from the stall. Then he spotted me and suddenly said, “Oh sorry, I should have let you gone first…”, and then he walked off. I didn’t see it coming, so I was so shocked I just managed to smile, shake my head and say, “No, it’s alright”. Then it suddenly occurred to me that he was the boy I met almost 2 months ago.

I was left confused and rather spooked by the literally “curious incident” for the rest of that day. I thought he was just doing it as a “dare” the first time round. But now that it happened again, and specifically on me, I’m getting more conscious. If I ever bump into him again, I’m definitely going to ask who he is and how he got to know me.

2010-09-20T19:33:00.001+08:00

I received the DipABRSM results this afternoon and I wasn’t successful. I expected myself to fail the recital because I didn’t play the best I could, but turns out I passed. I passed viva voce as well. It was the quick study that killed me. My overall percentage is a pass, but since I failed the quick study section, I have to retake it and hopefully pass overall so I can get the diploma.

I’m thankful for the result but I’ll just need some time to let it pass. I was considering retaking the recital part as well, just to prove to myself that I could play better than that, but I decided against it since it’s just a waste of money. There’s really no need to do that since I’m more concerned with my improvement in the long run, rather than just looking back and feeling happy about a grade I got years ago.

Now, off to productive labour.

2010-09-19T22:46:00.001+08:00

My Chinese teacher was going through the answers for the past-year IB Chinese papers last Friday and as usual, some people in class (occasionally me) were secretly doing their own work. Then she was trying to explain what “地下工作者” meant. In English, it refers to people who seem to be doing something but are actually doing something else. Then she started giving an example of how some people in class seemed to be doing Chinese but were actually doing their own work. And it so happened that Justin (my desk partner) was doing his physics, and we immediately burst into laughter. Then she went on to elaborate, “我知道你们当中有些人在做你们的什么... Physics 啊...". It was unbelievably true and that was what made it kind of funny.

That episode kept us laughing for about 10 minutes non-stop. Partly because laughter is infectious. One stops, the other giggles, and both start laughing again.

Then it worsened when we were going through an article on "拼", and we were trying to come up with 配词 for "拼". So there were words like 拼命 etc. Then someone from the back of the class suddenly said, “pong”. Again, I got into a tiring laughing state.

My jaws were tired and my eyes teared up by the end of Chinese lesson.

This is the power of laughter.

2010-09-12T23:34:00.001+08:00

I was feeling very free today and decided to re-arrange a song I used to sing through my years in the children’s section of Sunday School.

These are the lyrics:

我献什么给耶稣报他救我宏恩

他因爱我舍己身我当如何爱他

我献我心给耶稣虽然所献微小

恩主必定不轻看因他所爱惟此

To listen, click here. The first playing is the simplified initial version, the second playing is my re-arrangement. Sorry excuse the boring left hand accompaniment because I don’t know how to play the piano and note down the notes I play for that matter. The main thing I changed was the chord progression.

2010-09-11T01:10:00.001+08:00

It’s been an interesting day. In the afternoon, xj and siling came over to play tennis with me. Xj and I spent about half an hour drying to dry the court, and it was nearly more tiring than playing tennis. I finally did some exercise after living like some civilised pig for a few weeks.

In the evening, TF committee came over to my house for a BBQ. It was great fun and I had a good time laughing till my jaws hurt. Anyway, I’m thankful for the fellowship last night (it’s about 1 am now). It’s September now and tomorrow (today) will be the fourth last committee meeting I’ll be chairing…

Mom and dad are at Batam with Andrew Fellowship for a teambuilding camp. Jean and I are left at home to fend for ourselves. We had to do quite a bit of housework after the BBQ. The weird thing is, when mom’s around nagging, we don’t usually follow all the “rules” of house chores (i.e. we omit some steps). But now that we’re left to operate that cleanliness reset button, we follow the house rules more closely than ever, like cleaning up every spec of dirt and following all routine house chore procedures with utmost precision. It’s weirdly true.

The holidays are almost over. Sigh.. Such short-lived happiness.

2010-09-07T00:02:00.001+08:00

It’s been a tiring week, especially the last few days. There were hours of rehearsals till late at night in preparation for tonight’s performance, and the parts weren’t as easy as I was told they would be. Thankfully, I’m not playing violin 1. Otherwise I’d have to practice twice as hard and I’d probably be deader than before.

This is what happened tonight: news

How I was selected to play for this concert/award ceremony still remains a mystery to me. I’m a worse than average player and all the other school participants were the super pro people sitting way in front of their orchestras. I emphasize again, I’m just a below average player. Yet, I sat at the second desk, which probably does a lot of injustice to many others behind me who are more deserving of that spot.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the fun and stress of playing – my second time playing with a full symphony orchestra.

The president came.. Oh and I had a pleasant surprise when I bumped into Mr Chia yesterday. I didn’t realise he was playing too till then. I chatted with him for a while and he said he still remembered Jie Ying and Ariela (he couldn’t remember anyone else..).

If anyone is interested..

Bernstein: Candide Overture

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 1/2

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 2/2

2010-08-31T19:35:00.001+08:00

I’m quite useless in a sense that I don’t know how to help people around me, especially when I see a problem that needs addressing. I end up trying to do research on the internet to find out about how I might be able to help, but whether I actually have the guts to take action is another thing altogether. The past few days, I’ve been reading up on self-harm. To be honest, I’ve never quite looked at self-harm from the victim’s point of view. I was always against it, simply because I tend to be judgemental sometimes. But after reading up, I can finally understand the “rational” behind such behaviour. I’m not saying that I support self-harm (mainly because I believe the human body is not to be intentionally treated in such a manner), but rather, I’m ready to accept anyone who does that.

Today, I went to see the ear doctor. My tone audiogram shows that my hearing is still fine – meaning it hasn’t worsened since last year. I see a slight downward trend in my hearing ability, but it’s ok since it’s still hovering around the borders of normal hearing range. I’m quite amazed with the doctor because each time I visit him, he never fails to incorporate some biblical points of view during the consultation. By induction, I think he makes the effort to share the gospel with every patient he sees, and that’s what I admire him for.

Something which happened today left me stunned (in a bad way). I kept quiet and stoned for a few minutes to sort out my thoughts before I finally got my mind off it. I have no idea why I’m typing this since I’m not intending to reveal explicitly what happened. I’m sorry for making whoever reads this read this paragraph.

Anyway, yay for a holiday tomorrow!

2010-08-28T23:14:00.001+08:00

I’m one of those k-po (please excuse the spelling – I have no idea how to spell it) people who sat glued to the TV while watching the Manila hostage crisis. But it wasn’t the sort of stereotypical Singaporean k-po-ness, It was, well.. out of concern that I was interested in it (yea I know most Singaporeans would give this sort of excuse anyway). It must have been a horrifying tour to Manila for the Hong Kong-ers. I did feel sorry for them, especially the fact that 8 of them died innocent deaths.

Tomorrow is the first rehearsal for the HSBS youth concert thing. A few representatives from all schools with string ensembles will be playing, and I was given a chance to be one of them. I haven’t practiced the pieces much though…

If there’s one thing that defines me as a Christian student, it’s this:

Those who honour me I will honour…

2010-08-25T22:33:00.000+08:00

Never give up, even when things are looking hopeless.

I tried starting this post several times but ended up clearing everything after coming up with barely one sentence each time. Ah, this is the furthest I’ve gone yet…

I aim to learn Mendelssohn’s violin concerto (in E minor) before I die. It’s challenging and I’m eager to start tackling it. I think the fantastic music that comes out of it is worth the technical challenge.

Alright I have to more nonsense to empty out.

2010-08-18T19:50:00.001+08:00

Today was a rather interesting day. My cohort went on a trip to Officer Cadet School (OCS), supposedly aimed at stirring enthusiasm about National Service (since 4 in 5 students are guys). Although it didn’t really apply to me, it was a rare and meaningful experience. It was probably the first and last time I stepped into the training institute.

What I liked about the school was that everything was extremely neat and precise. The trees are all aligned, the steps are very consistent, the place is very clean, and I bet each strand of grass was carefully trimmed to a precise height. Very nice.

I tried firing one round of a general purpose machine gun. It was quite cool because everything felt real – looking through the aiming thing, pulling the trigger, and experiencing the recoil. That’s the closest I've ever gotten to a destructive weapon. I tried holding a rifle managed to take a close look at it. It was quite heavy. I wonder how people even run with stuff like that.

I had my fun, but no, I don’t think I’ll ever sign on to the army.

2010-08-13T19:43:00.001+08:00

I’ve never been injured like this before – I think I tore a vital muscle while playing badminton for PE yesterday. I didn’t feel any pain after playing, but my arm did feel weird. When I did violin practice at night, I picked up my bow and realised I couldn’t even grip it properly. I tried drawing long bows but each time I reached the tip or had to change direction, my arm would fail to apply enough pressure on the stick and I’d end up with a sloppy sound.

I played a bit of Bach and scales before my arm was aching badly and I couldn’t take it anymore (about 15 minutes), then I stopped.

I have a self-prescribed MC to excuse myself from violin practice today. Well… At least it makes me feel less guilty for skipping one day of practice.

2010-08-11T21:38:00.001+08:00

As I type this, my stomach hurts but I’m feeling rather relaxed, probably because I managed to lift quite a bit of work off my shoulders.

I watched Inception yesterday and I’m glad it was a movie that set me thinking – about how amazing (yet scary) it is that we, humans, can dream of things so real, and “bond” with other people virtually. It really hit me at the end when the people woke up from their dream where they had adventures together, built up strong relationships and learnt about each other. When they woke up, they suddenly distanced themselves from each other, as if nothing much had happened.

Are humans able to separate dreams from reality (assuming I’m currently living in reality)? I remember there was once, many years ago, I had a bad dream (commonly known as a nightmare) about a particular lady who had just stepped into church to help out with the music ministry. I had such a bad fright that the following Saturday when I had to see her again, I nearly couldn’t face going to church. I was dreading it and when I saw her, I’d quickly turn away to avoid looking. This continued for some time, and it only faded off after the lady finished serving the church (thankfully, not too long after the dream). I knew what I dreamt was obviously just a dream, but it shook me so much that it affected my reality.

Somehow, differentiating dreams from reality seems to improve with experience. Nowadays, I still have scary dreams that I remember, but much less than when I was younger. Thank God for that – otherwise I’d have a full store of nightmares to scare myself with.

Apart from nightmares, I’ve also had dreams where I interact with people I know (or didn’t expect to know so well). Those types of dreams are harder to remember, but I do remember fragments of them. When I awake from those dreams, sometimes I do get confused. Like I don’t know if I actually told that person what I think I told them – was it just in my dreams, or reality? And, if everyone has such dream-bonding experiences, does it help improve social relationships? Like somehow, we go through adventures with other people that help us “get to know them” better. Through these interactions, we feel more familiar with them, and this somehow aids in developing relationships among people we are connected to?

Sorry, please ignore my post if it seems like rubbish. I don’t know what got into me…

2010-08-05T20:22:00.000+08:00

It’s been a really tiring week. The concert’s tomorrow. I stayed back till 10.30pm in school the past 2 days for rehearsals and today was finally a day for relaxing. Well, not really, since I still practiced at home.

The highlight of the performance is Dvorak’s 8th symphony. It’s been an interesting experience playing a symphony. Hearing the different tone colours blasting behind me made orchestra-playing feel different.

It’s another very long day tomorrow.

Alright, enough rambling. I need to do my EE proposal.

2010-07-30T22:28:00.003+08:00

Thursday was violin exam day. I took one day to get over it. I hope I manage a pass, at least. I was feeling quite disappointed because I made quite a few unforgivable mistakes in my playing. Argh. Ok I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’ll decide how to react when the result comes out.

Today, there was supposed to be cross country. Most of the school dutifully turned up at West Coast Park, but just around 7 plus, there were huge storm clouds looming towards us and the wind was blowing really hard. But since there was no rain yet, we weren’t dismissed. At about 8am, it started pouring like crazy. There were a few tents set up around the big lawn, but fitting over 3000 students in them was certainly no joke. There was no way we could stay dry, especially when the strong winds were blowing all the rain into the narrow tents. Soon, the field started flooding and our shoes started getting soaked. It was a really pathetic sight. For over an hour, the whole school was just crammed under tents – most trying to fight the rain with umbrellas, and others either chatting or playing with their phones.

After more than an hour, the school was officially dismissed, but we couldn’t really move anywhere since we were stranded at our “safe spots”. Most people crowded at Macs or went home.

Tian Kai, Sharon, Justin, Yi Kai and I were huddled under a tent which was quite empty since most people had left. Standing under a tent hardly made any difference at all since the wind was just blowing all the rain at us. We later decided to walk out to find shelter on solid ground to avoid soaking our feet in a nutritious mud bath. By then, we were drenched through and shivering (literally) each time a gust of wind came.

For the next hour, we sat in one of the small shelters along the park and tried to wait for the rain to stop. It was cold, wet and tiring. We had to sit close together to conserve warmth and there were 2 umbrellas on hand used to try to block out wind and rain. I can’t describe fully how cold we were. My body had periodic vibrations (like a hand phone?) and my teeth started chattering occasionally. After what seemed like a very long wait, we decided to walk through the lighter rain (it hardly mattered anymore since we were already soaked). Then we rested at Macs and had lunch there.

Looking back on how I spent my morning, I think it was a traumatising, yet memorable experience. It’s these challenges you go through with others that strengthen bonds and create long lasting memories.

The five of us stranded in the field with our shoes thoroughly soaked

After lunch, we went to watch Despicable Me. That kind of sums up my tiring day.

2010-07-25T00:37:00.001+08:00

I went for the Speech day/Prize-giving ceremony on Friday at SMSS and collected the certificates for Music and O level results. I had a chance to wear the green graduation gown (and I must say it was really stuffy on such a warm day). I overheard someone who put it very aptly - “we look like Christmas trees!”. There were some thoughts running through my mind during the ceremony, but I can’t really recall them now. I think they were mainly memories of the 4 years spent there.

Here’s my plot of land on Farrer Road:

It looks a little bit like a floating plaque.. in loving memory of me? And in case anyone was wondering, no, I didn’t pass away in 2009.

I had my final violin exam rehearsal today. I really hope no volcano in any corner of the world decides to erupt within this week. I’m not really feeling stressed about the exam, probably because I suffered too much preparing for it 3 months ago and depleted my stress bank. According to my violin teacher, my pieces are very good, so if I’m not too nervous during the exam, I should do fine. Now I just hope the sight reading and viva-voce isn’t going to be too hard.

Yay!

2010-07-16T23:54:00.002+08:00

Today was the release of Common Test results.

I did better than I could imagine, and I really have God to thank for that.

I posted this on 4 July after my tests were over:

My best subject will probably be Chinese, followed by Econs. I got killed for the rest, so I don't really want to speculate about the order of my marks for now.

Looking back, my prediction was quite true. I did exceptionally well for Chinese and Econs. I fact, their marks were exactly the same. My next best subjects were Physics and Math, which were also tied. The last 2 subjects, English and Chem, differed by one mark. My subject marks have been split into 3 neat levels.

The subject with the most improvement made was Physics. I scored a devastating 11/40 for my first and only class test last term. That left me quite unconfident of my Physics and I started doubting if I should even consider a Physics EE.

When I got back English, I was really happy because I managed to get out of the fail-zone, with a decent pass. So far I’ve only passed English 3 out of 6 times.

Mom [to Dad]: Woah Lynn topped her level for Econs leh!

Dad: Who's gene was it?

Mom: Hmm let me trace back…

2010-07-14T23:56:00.001+08:00

Was Math invented or discovered?

I really don’t know.. I can’t even make a stand yet. Saying it’s both would be just trying to take the easy way out…

[This section was typed and deleted at least twice, because I didn’t know whether or not to post more]

2010-07-08T14:56:00.001+08:00

I woke up at 2.30am this morning to catch the match between Spain and Germany. Dad suddenly walked into the living room after half time and asked me for the score before joining me for the rest of the match. Jean said she wanted to watch but she didn’t manage to wake up. Xiao Jun was watching too but she fell asleep halfway… I was already getting suspicious because she was suddenly stopped smsing. I was supporting Germany but when I found out the octopus had already predicted Germany would lose, I lost hope already. Yes, I trust seafood… But really, this guy is accurate. Read the article below:

Paul the psychic octopus correctly predicts Germany defeat

Paul, an octopus in a German zoo who predicts the national side's football results, maintained his 100 per cent accuracy rate at this World Cup by foreseeing the team's downfall at the hands of Spain.

By Nick Collins
Published: 7:30AM BST 08 Jul 2010

Paul, the so-called "octopus oracle", predicts Spain's victory in their 2010 World Cup semi-final match against Germany Photo: REUTERS

The animal has become the most unusual celebrity at this year's tournament after correctly indicating whether Germany would win or lose each of their six games during the tournament.

His keepers at the zoo in Oberhausen claim he is psychic, and help him make his predictions by offering him mussels from two containers - one adorned with the German flag and one with that of their opponents.

Whichever vessel Paul chooses to eat from is held to be his tip to win the match - and his choice of Spain for last night's semi-final added further weight to his burgeoning reputation.

His talent was first spotted during the Euro 2008 finals, when he successfully picked the winner for each of Germany's games until the final - also against Spain.

His keeper, Oliver Walenciak, said before the match: "We know that all octopus have nine brains so we know he has exceptional powers.

"In the European Cup he got one game wrong. It was the final between Germany and Spain and he picked Germany which was wrong and this time he has picked Spain so we are thinking he must be wrong again."

But hopes that Paul had a blind spot for matches against Spain were crushed as a Carlos Puyol header ended Germany's hopes of winning the tournament.

Paul's unwavering accuracy this year has even seen him become a target for furious Argentinian fans, who blamed him for their side's quarter final defeat against Germany and threatened to eat him.

Mr Walenciak said: "There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive."

I found the second last paragraph the funniest.

2010-07-07T23:39:00.001+08:00

Today, I went to the gym after not having exercised since the last PE lesson (sometime around my NAPHA test in April/May). Mom practically dragged me along with her. About 20 minutes into cycling on the fake magnetic bike, I felt a bit of thalasaemia minor acting up, but I continued cycling with gradually decreasing velocity. It got more unbearable towards the end of my workout but I persevered and was relieved to get off the bike. But that’s when my trouble started.

Mom and I went out of the gym to go back home. I was in the lift when I started blacking out. The walk back to my block was the longest and most scary/dangerous journey I ever made from the club house. I had to keep my head low and when I stepped out of the club house, I could hardly see where I was going. My vision was just filled with pixel-like stuff that made it very hard for me to see, and everything I heard was muffled. I had to make at least 5 stops along the way to squat down and let blood flow to my brain. It got worse as my journey progressed. At one point, I could hardly make it out of one of the lift lobbies. I couldn’t see the door and everything was completely black. Mom was holding me and trying to support me as I fumbled my way around. I vaguely remember someone entered the lift lobby while I was in my semi-conscious state – she must have been freaked out. I could hardly move and mom was trying to get a response from me.

After the stopovers and drunken-like walking, I finally made it to the 13th floor. I barely stepped out of the lift when I blacked out again. I don’t remember how I managed to reach my door. Mom was trying to guide me to the doorstep and I felt worse than a blind person. My head was throbbing and my legs hardly wanted to move. So I sat in front of my door for about a minute before making my way in. The whole thing managed to clear by the time I was done with my shower.

This isn’t the first time it’s happened, but one of the more serious ones I’ve ever experienced. Just this morning when I woke up, I nearly blacked out in the toilet. I lost some consciousness while walking from my bed, and managed to grab hold of the sink and cling on while trying to regain consciousness. But this sort of experience is what I’d consider minor and somewhat more frequent. I usually end up forgetting how I managed to get to my destination.

2010-07-04T18:25:00.002+08:00

Ok I know this is a bit lag, but, yayyyy! Exams are over!

My best subject will probably be Chinese, followed by Econs. I got killed for the rest, so I don't really want to speculate about the order of my marks for now.

I'll be living this week like it's the June (July) holidays. I'm trying to make up for lost time in the holidays when I had to slog hard at revision. But have a whole list of things I need to clear this week - things I couldn't focus on because of my packed holiday, but which have deadlines approaching soon.

I'm finally going to visit the IR tomorrow with my grandparents and cousins, oh and Jean. I really wonder what it looks like close up, because all I've seen so far is 3 giant oddly curved buildings which look nearly the same. For some strange reason, probably the lack of colour, my brain seems to keep associating the IR with LCD pixels.

2010-06-26T23:45:00.001+08:00

I’m back from a week of relaxing and unwinding. My parents, grandparents and I spent Thursday-Friday at a beach resort in Port Dickson. While walking out of the lift, I suddenly caught sight of a nice sunset with the sun just at the edge of the world. It was picture perfect. But by the time I fumbled with my camera and took a picture, it was too late. The sun just sank down the horizon and all I was left with was traces of its orange trail. That sunset was memorable, especially since it was set against the sea, with nice swimming pools in the foreground and coconut tees swaying along the beach in the middle-ground. It’s weird how that sunset seemed special, even though sunsets have always been available on a daily basis. Though I don’t have a picture of it in my camera, there’s one I can refer to in my head. Now that’s the ultimate camera.

The retreat was good, overall. From the sermons to the food and my living quarters. My room was super big (about 4 times the size of my room), and so was my bed. It must have been a super-single sized one. Through I was mainly reminded not to focus so much on the quantitative aspects of church growth, but rather, qualitative aspects. I had my difficult times of questioning why my church was the way it is, but it’s over already, so this mainly served as a reminder. There were many other things learnt, but one of the important ones was to try being more caring towards newcomers – something the unsociable me isn’t good at.

During the retreat, I tried worship leading for one of the worship sessions. Well, it was a good experience. Weirdly, I wasn’t feeling nervous at all, even though it was my first time. Oh yes, and there’s a revival of the 2007 favourite song. It was sung at least twice a day for the entire retreat. Somehow, everyone kept picking it. So now, 我的神，我的父，我的磐石 is top of the charts – again. And now that everyone’s bored of it, its popularity will sink back down and the cycle would most probably continue… Ok I think I shouldn’t analyse worship leaders’ song choices so much..

2010-06-21T01:14:00.002+08:00

Will be off to Malaysia for church retreat in a few hours till Friday. I’m kind of excited. I’ll be rooming with xj.. haha.. just as we wanted it. But I think I’ll have to spend time revising while over there since exams are going to crash on me when I come back.

The camp theme song...

2010-06-19T01:17:00.001+08:00

I managed to catch Toy Story 3 yesterday while my class crashed the sec 4s’ Sunday School class outing (this usually happens…). Then we went to partyworld KTV. I’m not so much of a karaoke fan, but after going for karaoke twice in the past 2 weeks, with nearly the same people, I’ve gotten more and more ok with it. There are 2 major problems I face – 1. I don’t know many pop songs; 2. It takes me more time to read the Chinese lyrics so by the time I finish reading, I usually miss the whole line already. But I can safely say I’ve improved a bit… I think.

I was thinking, if karaoke included Christian songs, it’d probably be much easier for people like me who have limited exposure to the secular world of pop music. While scrolling through the long list of songs, I caught sight of Amazing Grace in various versions. But then a counter-thought quickly came to my mind. How can people just sing “sacred” songs just for the sake of pleasure and the fun of hearing their voice on a booming surround-sound system? That leads me to a further point – when we worship, is it usually how nice the music sounds that comes first? I remember while studying for O level music, I came across an interesting fact - that the prosperity of towns usually depended on the quality of their church music. Weird as it may seem, it might be similar for most churches today. I’m pretty sure if some churches did without their rock band for a while, the number of attendees would probably fall. If I scale it down to let’s say, no piano in my church (it has happened in dire situations before), the same phenomenon would probably occur. But this is also why I salute the English assembly for being able to preserve the long tradition of not using any instruments at all for every main service.

So what’s my main point? Music was created to enhance worship, not the other way round. I admit that sometimes, I do fall into that trap. But I hope I’ll grow out of it completely.

2010-06-16T22:06:00.001+08:00

This morning, I went to AMK library and managed to catch a ride from yeye since he was dropping food off at my house and sending Jensen to bowling practice. It was raining very heavily. When I stepped out of the car just at the side of the road, in the midst of hurrying and trying not to get wet, I sank my foot into the side of the road, near the curb. Then, I felt a cool and gradually wet sensation. I quickly jumped up the curb, as fat as I could react, and there was the spongy effect in my shoes. When I assessed the damage in the shelter, I concluded that I must have stepped into an ankle-deep ~~puddle~~ river. Sigh.. So I had to bear with a squishy shoe the whole morning. But when I reached home and read the news today, I think what I stepped into was merely the tip of the iceberg, or rather, the surface of the flood. Poor people in Orchard Road… Oh and the news reporter was rather funny. The shop owners in Luck Plaza weren’t quite lucky – their shops were flooded.

I watched Karate Kid today. It was quite good, but very long.

2010-06-08T18:17:00.002+08:00

How many times have we forgotten to pray?

Violin exam is going to be on 29 July, hopefully. Please, no volcano ash. I don't think I can live through another great disappoint like that. Mom said I play better (during practice) when I know the exam date. That pretty much explains why the after-shock got me aimless.

2010-06-06T22:57:00.001+08:00

Yesterday’s TF Anniversary went well, better than I could imagine. It was my first time planning the anniversary as the tuan zhang, The 7 weeks of publicising, planning, working well past midnight seem to have paid off. From the feedback I heard, those who came thought it was meaningful and well-planned. Except for 2 Chinese words that I used wrongly, my Chinese standard was probably unbelievable for some. It took me at least 3 hours to type out my whole script.

The success of the anniversary isn’t mine or the committee to gloat over. Rather, I think God blessed the whole event and so I was nothing but (to put it a little crudely) a pawn. But that is honourable enough for me.

My throat feels weird… I predict I’ll be sick by Wednesday, latest.

2010-06-04T18:09:00.001+08:00

The past week has been ok for me, mainly filled with extra lessons, revision, preparing for TF anniversary tomorrow and some “invisible” time spent on slacking.

Today, I went back to school for my last extra lesson – Chemistry. It turned out to be quite an interesting 1.5 hours spent in one of the ground floor classrooms.

The most spectacular event that occurred was when a gigantic lizard suddenly appeared on the floor. Trust me, it was huge. However, of course, unlike the typical reactions in let’s say, SMSS, no, there was no screaming and my class didn’t frantically evacuate from the room. The cool and composed boys, along with my teacher, patiently coaxed the unexpected guest out of class. Sharon and I just took a good look at the lizard and stood a good distance away from all the action.

And this incident suddenly reminded me of something that happened during WOW. My class had just checked into a hotel in a village in Vietnam and my roommates and I were walking to our room. Some guys tagged along with the supposed intention of wanting to check out our room. I entered the room for the first time and looked around, and suddenly saw a cockroach on the bed. No, I didn’t scream, but it looked real enough to make me spurt out, “Ohmygoodnessthere’sacockroach!”. The guys suddenly burst into laughter and the rest of us soon realised it was a fake one they threw on the bed. I think they brought the cockroach all the way to Vietnam just for that moment.

Ok, off to do violin practice now.

2010-05-27T23:45:00.001+08:00

Sharon and I helped out for the IB open house today. We were helping to promote TOK. I would never have imagined myself doing that. But I think I’m starting to master the art of “bs-ing”, a skill that is highly prevalent and necessary in the environment I’m studying in. Oh Evangeline was there too.. promoting visual arts. I managed to chat with 2 SMSS juniors.

I encountered anxious parents and students while manning the booth. I’m glad I was able to talk to quite a number of people, putting aside my introverted-ness, or most of it, and attempted to initiate conversations with some people who passed by the booth.Thankfully, I listened carefully to the presentations on introductions to TOK and the related assessments, so I wasn’t that hopeless in interacting with the visitors.

I also had a good laugh (I hadn’t had one in the past 5 days).

So overall, I’m feeling tired and happy.

Study break has just started (notice it can’t be called “June holidays” anymore). Sigh… I’ll be spending tomorrow in church to prepare for the TF anniversary stuff. It’s been a long journey of preparations and I started feeling tired since 2 weeks ago, but I’ll hang on for another week.

My best subjects for this term are Chinese, Chemistry and Econs. Weird huh..

2010-05-21T23:02:00.001+08:00

Today, I spent 8 hours in the lab for the Group 4 project. My group consisting of Tiankai, Sharon, Brandon and Justin investigated the amount of Vitamin C in various fruit and found out that among oranges, lemons, tomatoes and apples, oranges had the most Vitamin C per dollar. So if you’re sick, go for oranges!

I have nothing much to type about, so I’ll just post my reflections.

Working together with Tiankai, Justin, Brandon and Sharon for this Group 4 project has been a pleasurable experience. Our group faced 2 major obstacles throughout this journey together.

Firstly, at the planning stage, we ran into trouble coming up with suitable ideas for the Group 4 project. We spent much time coming up with at least 4 proposals before we could finally obtain approval. These times were most trying for us because our patience and resilience were put to the test. Although we had to sacrifice a lot of time and effort in discussing our proposals, this provided the opportunity for us to work together and in the process, learn more about each other.

Secondly, during our execution of the experiment, we ran into problems such as the concentration of iodine was being much higher than the concentration of Vitamin C in the fruit and the filtration of fruit juice being too slow and unproductive. This made us rather frustrated, but we persevered in trying to troubleshoot the situations and when we finally came up with solutions to overcome them, it was heart-warming to see the joy on the faces of my team mates.

Hence, despite the difficulties we faced during the project, we managed to pull through as one and produced a good piece of work.

Being aware of our strengths and weaknesses, my group divided the labour such that those who were better in certain areas like manipulative skills and data processing skills were in charge of duties like titration and analyzing results respectively. My weakness lies in manipulative skills, so I helped out in my stronger areas such as the preparation of the fruit juices and calculations of the data collected while others like Justin and Tiankai were in charge of the titration.

Through this Group 4 project, I became more confident in sharing my ideas. As an introvert, I usually keep quiet most of the time and when I had ideas, I would just keep them to myself for fear that they were foolish ones. This was more so when I was not working with people I was very familiar with. However, I decided to give it a try. I tried giving a minor suggestion at first, and when I saw that my team mates listened and gave my idea much thought and respect, I became more and more confident in giving suggestions and participating in the discussions. Hence, I have emerged from this project a more confident individual.

In conclusion, the Group 4 Project has been an enriching experience for me. I am very sure that the bonds formed with my team mates and lessons learnt from beyond the classroom will stay with me for a long time.

2010-05-16T22:38:00.001+08:00

WARNING: Sorry the following post is going to sound quite egoistic, so try not to read on.

Today, dad was the worship leader, my uncle was the pianist, jean and I were playing violin. As usual, we (anyhow) improvised throughout the worship and even during purely instrumental interludes when it is usually harder to cover up if any accident occurs.

It seemed like a normal day of serving although I felt a slight sense of accomplishment because hardly anything went wrong. Also, the people whom I came into contact to voluntarily gave positive feedback about the music and how it helped them worship better.

But this was what made Jean and I stunned. While having lunch at the hawker centre, one lady (from choir) suddenly came up to Jean and I and wanted to clarify some doubts she and a few others had. She asked us whether our dad was actually using a cd for the worship music just now. As expected, Jean and I stared blankly and then burst into laughter.

I’m glad that it’s been proven once again, that music can enhance worship and bring people into the presence of God.

How I spent my 17th birthday

2010-05-11T23:33:00.001+08:00

17 is a really large number to handle.

I am really happy to receive the birthday wishes from my friends and family over the past few days, including today.

In the morning, just before assembly, the girls in my OG suddenly appeared at my classroom door, armed with a cake and a card, and singing Happy Birthday. I was pleasantly surprised and it kicked my morning off to a great start.

I won’t mention what happened after assembly..

There was Chem test after school, but looking on the bright side, it’s better than having it on a day like tomorrow because that would mean I’d have to revise for it today.

After the test, I went out for dinner with the “crazy gang”. We ate at Seoul Garden for three hours. That’s how we maximise money.. But really, we were one of the first to arrive at the restaurant and most of those of who came after us left before us. Anyway, I had a great time and yes, we should do it more often.

Technically, my birthday only arrived 3 hours ago.. Well, it’s been a happy day!

2010-05-08T22:13:00.001+08:00

Pictures I took in Vietnam..

http://picasaweb.google.com/114016277564464685870/WOWVietnam17May2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCPSejqm-8uCr3wE#

2010-05-07T23:00:00.001+08:00

I’m dead tired. I slept at 5am this morning and woke up before 7am. It’s my fault I guess.. But that extra staying-up-late time was unforgettable.

This was my second time to Vietnam. The first time in 2008 (refer to March 2008 archive if you want), I went with my family to Hoi An, which is quieter and less advanced than Ho Chi Min city. Most things were similar, for example, most of the population drove motorcycles and horns remained the popular tool for saying “hi” among drivers.

The past week, crossing roads has only been traumatising. I don’t understand why they authorities can’t invest in some traffic lights for pedestrian crossings. I didn’t manage to spot even a single traffic light for pedestrians. There are plenty of zebra crossings where pedestrians are the ones forced to give way to drivers. The drivers just continue driving even when I’m trying to make my way across the road. I eventually came to the conclusion that the only way to reduce stress levels while crossing roads is to cross with both eyes closed.

I have classified the activities during this WOW trip into 2 main categories – learning about Vietnamese history/culture and helping the Vietnamese in need. Maybe there’s also an “others” section which includes planting mangroves and visiting factories.

I learnt about Vietnamese history through visits to museums and other important landmarks. The Vietnam War’s long-lasting impacts are still felt today. Most of those who didn’t die then suffered injuries for the rest of their lives. Later generations were also affected because the chemicals sprayed (Agent Orange) from the US caused things like miscarriages and abnormal growth of babies. I went to visit a handicraft factory specially for those who suffered injuries and disabilities due to the war. I admire the fact that despite having to go through so much, those workers were determined to move on in life instead of wallowing in their misfortunes.

My class went down to Long Phuoc village, Vinh Long province, along the Mekong River to help the locals living there. We re-built a house for a poor family, of course, with the help of the local men. This house-building was not what I expected it to be. We had to use water palm leaves and cut bamboo for making the house. The houses aren’t made of cement or bricks. We had to use raffia (some woody stuff) strings to tie the leaves to the bamboo structure of the house. It wasn’t easy tying it together because the we didn’t exactly “tie” them together. We had to wind up the string in a certain way such that it was tight and secure - no knots involved. It took me countless tries and patience from the local helpers to finally get it right. Nevertheless, it was a tiring but fulfilling experience.

Back in Ho Chi Min city, my class went to School of the Future (a school for orphans/children with down syndrome) to help out. It wasn’t the type of school I expected – with a nice open area and maybe a playground. Instead, I faced a run-down building which was part of a row of shop houses. We put up some performances and went into groups to play with the children. I helped out with teaching the children origami. It’s not as easy as it seems. Remember, these children are not as intellectually inclined and can only understand Vietnamese, and only a minority of my class knows that “sin chao” means “hi” in Vietnamese. However, despite the language barrier, we tried our best using sign language and the universal language of love (haha.. sorry for the clichéness..) to entertain the children. It made me happy seeing the smiles on the faces of the two boys I was helping.

The WOW trip has also strengthened bonds among my class. Living together for the past 7 days provided a good opportunity for me to learn more about my classmates and appreciate our differences. The times the group of us stayed up till the wee hours of the night to play and just enjoy life were memorable. Sadly, there probably won’t be anymore opportunities to bond like that.

I’m really tired. Bye for now.

2010-04-30T00:33:00.001+08:00

Since I have nothing better to do now, I’ve decided to click on this Windows Live Writer thing and just jot down some random thoughts that come to my head. I’m still up at 12am because tk asked me to keep him company while he does his work. So here I am.

Today, I played chateh (or however it’s spelt – the bunch of feathers attached to a tiny base that people like to kick around) for PE. It was quite fun. I think I looked like some odd person who had trouble coordinating my leg movement. Like when I try to keep the chateh in the air, I end up hoping around on one foot with the other frantically extended in an attempt to reach for the feathers. But after a while, I managed to get the hang of it.

I’m leaving for Vietnam on Saturday morning with my class for a CIP trip. So far, I’ve been looking forward to the trip, especially before I knew violin exam was cancelled because there was more anticipation. Ok, l don’t want to go into that. I’ll be back next Friday afternoon. After that, I have a busy weekend to clear. There’s a chem test on my birthday and that’s sad.

A personal note: I need to start packing my luggage tomorrow.

2010-04-24T21:59:00.002+08:00

I tried planting red beans. 7 days ago, I put one seed in a container and 3 seeds in another. The wonders of private living space are illustrated below:

Both seeds were planted at the same time, but the one living by itself shot up incredibly fast. I'm starting to think it has super growth powers.

2010-04-19T18:54:00.001+08:00

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My violin exam has been postponed to late July. All because of some ulu volcano that decided to erupt in Iceland, all flights out of Europe are grounded and my examiners can’t fly out in time to examine me on Friday.

Can anyone understand how disappointed I am? I worked doubly hard the past 3 weeks, and I mean it literally. I’ve been averaging 2 hours of practice a day and just when I reach my peak, the world just has to come crashing down on me. Last week was just a nightmare. I practiced late at night, regardless of how late I reached home every day. I barely survived with 4 hours of sleep the past week and now it seems to have just amounted to nothing.

Maybe I just need some time to get over the shock.. I’m just exhausted. I was hoping to be relieved from all this exam stress in 4 days, but now I have to wait 3 months before it’ll finally be over.

Well, I can try to look on the bright side – that I still have time to polish up my pieces. But it’s not as easy as it seems. When I continued violin practice just now after picking up the call, my morale took a plunge and my playing was horrible. Yea I think I need some time to get over this major change. Currently I’m feeling more sad than happy.

2010-04-11T23:07:00.001+08:00

Sigh.. I’m slightly sick, but it’s enough to make me less alert. I need to survive this week. It’s going to be hard.

2010-04-09T23:30:00.001+08:00

Exactly 2 weeks to violin exam. I’m sprinting this final lap. I just did 2 hours of violin practice today. This whole week, I practiced till my fingers became painful, until the pain numbed away and each time, I’d stop before the cycle was about to repeat itself again. At least, I think I’ve made some progress. This reminds me of the life of asceticism Siddhartha led.

I was looking forward to today, as always, simply because it’s Friday. Fridays are always special because school ends earlier.

Today, I experienced what ageing people experience, only it just started to sink into me. Everything felt different, more different than the last time. The atmosphere changed, even the mood. Or maybe it’s just because I am getting less blind. I think the first ever Cu is possible, but it’s not what I think some really deserve. Maybe zoom and ck have some idea of what I’m typing about. I remained rather stunned, all the way till violin practice killed all those thoughts. Ok I’m just trying to be as ambiguous as possible here.

Maybe I’m tired. Yes, I am.

2010-04-05T22:49:00.001+08:00

My left index finger is slightly handicapped. On Saturday, I accidentally slammed a sharp, pointed metal end of a keychain ring between my nail and the rest of my finger. There was some blood but I’ll cut out the graphic details. As a result, whenever I use my first finger on the violin, I have to bear the torture. You can imagine how a vibrato feels like.

I’ve heard “Above All” twice in the last 2 days, once in Chinese (I had to play it on Sunday during worship) and another time today (during chapel). I think this song is a good example in showing how meaning is lost through translation.

Compare this:

Above all powers, above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what you're worth

Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

with this:

至高权柄至高神
超越全地一切被造万物
至高智慧高过人的道路
唯有祢是全知全能神

至高国度至高君
超越全地一切奇妙丰富
至尊至贵胜过世界财富
天上地下唯一的爱慕

神羔羊   宝血为我流
胜死亡   荣耀地復活
耶稣   宝贵神羔羊
为我受死   为我复活   神羔羊

Especially the chorus. The rather powerful imagery in the original English version is nearly, if not completely, lost in the Chinese translation.

Today, I managed to meet Jie Ying in smss (I just realised I can’t type “school” anymore) after weeks of not seeing her around. I think I was quite excited while on 165. I’ll be involved in the concert that’s coming up next next week. Ok that’s all for now. I need to go recharge my brain cells.

2010-04-02T22:16:00.002+08:00

Today is Good Friday, a day when most Christians flock to church and Buddhists to the resting places of their ancestors (i.e. the temple outside my house).

Every year, the same video clip is played during the service. It starts off with Jesus praying hard with his disciples (who end up sleeping), then he gets arrested after Judas betrays him. After travelling from place to place, he finally receives the death sentence. Then, he gets nailed to the cross and the video is stopped after he dies. I find that it's only when I'm reminded (with graphic detail) annually that the real significance of Jesus's death starts to renew itself in me. Otherwise, it's hard to imagine.

The choir presented this song - 他为了我们 (We Are the Reason). It sums up why Jesus died on the cross for everyone. In my inexpert opinion, I don't think the choir sang their best today. But that's besides my main point.

Violin exam is in exactly 3 weeks. I practiced for more than 2 hours today and my fingers were seriously aching.

2010-03-28T20:41:00.001+08:00

It’s been an ok week. Some days were bad, most days were good. How often have I always looked forward to the weekend, thinking I could use it for catching up with school-related work, and end up getting close to nothing accomplished?

I just saw 50% of my weekend slip away from me yesterday. I woke very early to go to school for sports day and ended up wasting my whole morning there. I had to rush all the way home to practice with the piano accompanist, eat lunch quickly, then rush out again for TF outing. I didn’t waste my time there, but by the time I finally got home, it was 10 plus.

Today, wasn’t as bad, but I’d rate it at 60% of the Saturday rush.

Sigh. And by ranting here, I’ve wasted another 10 minutes.

This afternoon, I was thinking and it suddenly occurred to me – isn’t the somewhat consoling statement “There’s no right or wrong answer” so ironical? Think about it - is that supposed to be right or wrong?

2010-03-20T22:49:00.001+08:00

Today was an incredibly long day. I think I start most of my posts with the word “Today”. Anyway…

I went down to MINDSville to help out for the Family Day for the children living in the hostel. My duties included marking attendance of the relatives and carrying out palm-printing. Mainly just helping out wherever I could.

While I marked the attendance of the family members and watched the families interact, I could tell that a number of families weren’t as complete, and some were a little complex. I was trying to imagine what it was like for parents who couldn’t live with their child. And siblings who had to deal with not having much opportunities to bond with their brother/sister.

I was quite impressed by the way the siblings who came cared for their sibling (you get what I mean..). Forgive me if this sounds harsh, but let’s say you are a younger sibling and your older sibling doesn’t quite act like an older sibling… Well, from what I saw, nevertheless, the younger siblings who came were really understanding and patient with their older brother/sister. I don’t know how to describe this impact on me in words, but what I saw was unforgettable.

Not all the children's’ families came. Though the children are intellectually disabled, they do have feelings. Some were visibly sad and angry that they’re parents didn’t come. Seeing them in that situation made me feel as helpless at times. During the sharing session, one of the teachers told the children they mustn't be angry with their parents. If they can do it, I’m sure everyone else can. This question came into my mind - How do you love someone who doesn’t seem to love you?

2010-03-20T01:01:00.001+08:00

Ok Joycelyn, here’s your concert review. (Btw, what do you need it for?)

Today, I enjoyed an evening of music at the Victoria Concert Hall. The National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra (NUSSO) held a concert entitled “Romantic Fantastique”. It featured music from the Romantic period from composers such as Tchaikovsky and Hector Berlioz.

What I fascinated me about the programme was that is was purely Romantic. More interestingly, two of the works played, Variations in a Rococo Theme and Symphonie Fantastic seemed to be like “autobiographies” of Tchaikovsky and Berlioz respectively. I was left in awe as I read the programme notes and listened to what I learnt in O level music come alive – through music. What I heard from Chor Kwan (she heard it from someone else) was that Variations on a Rococo Theme by Tchaikovsky was a reflection of his not-so-happy marriage life (my music classmates will be able to tell anyone the details of Tchaikovsky’s romantic side of life very confidently). Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastic was a piece dedicated to a woman he loved, I think she’s called Harriet. The piece ends happily, although their real-life marriage didn’t. Now please ignore this whole paragraph because I think it has nothing to do with a concert review.

The concert had a great start. I’m sure the orchestra enjoyed playing the piece as much as i enjoyed listening to it. The lively and melodious passages were played with a noticeable sense of excitement. That positive energy was transferred, or rather, “radiated” (think transfer of energy) to the audience very effectively.

Next, Variations on a Rococo Theme by Tchaikovsky was played. The solo cellist played beautifully. Although she made a few slips while shifting (“leaping” would be a better description) positions. Other than the occasional inaccurate intonation, the piece was well thought-through. I liked the way the piece was interpreted. The orchestra did a good job of playing the role of accompanist. It managed to support the soloist throughout, although at one point, the balanced between both sides seemed, well.. unbalanced. The cellist was doing an impressive, super fast ascending scale. However, it was a pity all I could do was watch her fingers skilfully climb up the fingerboard. Perhaps the cellist wasn’t playing loudly enough, or the orchestra was too loud, or my ears are most probably to blame.

Finally, Symphonie Fantastic by Berlioz was performed. I admit I lost concentration at some points throughout the first few movements, but the sudden entrances of percussion or some fortissimo every now and then managed to perk me up a bit. I enjoyed the last two movements the most, partly because they were more energetic, and I was fascinated by the powerful brass passages. The orchestra also seemed to enjoy it more. I inferred that because the pieces were well played, very together and good intonation.

No performance can ever be perfect, but tonight was a very good attempt. Though some parts were not played together and there were some minor slips in intonation, the orchestra was otherwise near perfect. I especially admired the variation in dynamics the orchestra was able to achieve, as well as the unified phrasing.

Indeed, the Romantic Fantastique was fantastique!

(I’m regretted not picking up a programme booklet just now. I had to try hard to recall what I heard.. a sign of ageing)

2010-03-18T23:00:00.001+08:00

Today, I went to help out at MINDSville@Napiri, at the Children’s Wing. MINDS stands for Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore. My aunt is the director of the children’s wing, so I asked if I could go there to help out. Today was my first time interacting with children with special needs.

We went on an excursion to Swire Marine Training Centre, originally a factory selling chicken feed. Today, it houses a ship. Well, kind of. It’s a ship simulator. There are the various sections of the main control units in a ship, like the viewing room, control room, engine room and a deck where you can just get sea-sick watching the projections on the wall. The kids had a lot of fun controlling the “ship”. Thankfully, it can’t sink.

My job there was to be a photographer. Not that my photography skills are good or anything, but anyway.. I think it’s better I start out doing stuff like this because I don’t really have the social skills necessary to interact well with kids. For example, when some of them enthusiastically waved, held my hand and talked to me, I found it very hard to think of how to respond. I mean, I smiled and played with them a bit, but I wish I could do more for them.

One thing I learnt, apart from the usual “oh.. to start appreciating things around me”, was that what seems less significant to me may mean a whole lot more to someone else. In other words, I learnt to be more sensitive to the perspectives of others.

Let me explain. After half an hour of waiting for the children to put on their socks and shoes, we finally got onto the bus and were headed to the ship simulator. While on the bus, one girl suddenly exclaimed, “I am happy! I am happy!” When asked why she was was happy, she answered, “Because today I can outing!” This whole excursion thing didn’t seem like a big deal to me, but it was what the children had probably been looking forward to for a long time. Though it was a rather casual remark, it gave me something to think about for the rest of the bus ride.

In conclusion, today was an eye-opener.

2010-03-16T19:42:00.002+08:00

The past few days have been quite miserable. On Friday, I accidentally bit the inner part of my lip twice and the ulcer only got worse. Eating, talking and even smiling is hard. My quality of life is suffering. Argh…

Violin exam is coming in slightly more than a month. It clashes with the WOW trip (overseas trip) so I decided to reschedule it a week earlier. But I suppose it’s ok.. Not like I can do much in a week anyway. I started working harder since yesterday because the exam suddenly seemed very near.

My worship leading on Sunday went pretty smoothly. I was also encouraged from the compliments I received. Not that I’m being ungrateful or anything, but I do wish people would give me advice for improvement too. I asked one lady who had just complimented me what I could improve on. She said she’d think about it, and till now I don’t know the answer.

March holidays are ending so soon…

Here's a picture taken by dad while we were at Crystal Jade on Saturday. The fish seemed very interested in looking at us. I found them quite friendly and potentially sociable. They're not like other aquatic animals that just ignore humans (and probably pass us off as aliens).

Can fish smile?

2010-03-07T23:31:00.001+08:00

I’m ultra exhausted now, but since today was a rather significant day, I shall briefly record it.

Firstly, it was my first time leading worship during Sunday School. It’s quite different from leading during TF, mainly because I’m facing a much larger congregation of widely differing ages. I had to bear in mind the older folks while choosing songs so they wouldn’t feel too lost. It took me several hours just to plan the 20 minutes, from the power point to my script and rehearsing with Jean (who was also making her debut as pianist). In all, I think it went pretty well. I haven’t received negative feedback yet, though I’d most welcome it so I can improve for next week’s.

Second, I was pleasantly surprised today my grandma (maternal) suddenly introduced me to someone when I reached church this morning. That someone was May – the domestic helper my parents employed when I was a tiny kid. She was in Singapore for a few days. She looked after me for about 2 years, I think. According to mom, she helped out in our church while she was here. For example, she helped the kids section and introduced her church in Myanmar. There were tears running down her cheeks as she met Jean and I and asked us how we were doing. I found it weird that though we hadn’t met for 16 years (most of my short life), we were still able to talk smoothly.

Third, I went to bake brownies with half of my class for the overseas trip fund raising. We spent 6 hours baking laboriously in my classmate’s kitchen. It was like housewives’ training session there. It was quite fun and I managed to get to know most of them better.

What a day to remember.

2010-02-26T21:00:00.001+08:00

Today, I felt like I was some old folk. When I woke up, I could hardly get myself off the bed. It’s all because of PE yesterday. My thighs ache, my arms ache and my back aches too. When I reached school, I learnt that I wasn’t the only one facing these partial disabilities. Anyway, it just goes to show how unfit I am since I hardly exercise.

It’s been about a month since school started and I’m almost done adjusting to the new environment. The new students have a gap to fill before we can be somewhat on par with the rest of the school. Math was pretty scary at first, but it’s getting better.

Somehow, looking back on my past has been making me feel incapable of achieving much. I was a mediocre, worse than average kind of student before, and now I find myself face to face with the people who were high above me, and still are. But on the bright side, my progress has been a step-by-step one, linearly related to the gradually challenging environments. Maybe this is just another step of the way…

Now, I shall go back to reading Huck Finn.

2010-02-21T23:09:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, TF went to 4 houses to bai nian, something that happens every year. For the first time, I didn’t write out my script for worship leading. Since I had to lead 4 short worship sessions at each house, I figured I’d just think about what to say and improvise along the way.

I’ve been thinking, there are pros and cons to leading worship frequently (I was looking through the worship script files on the com and counted 10 in the past year). The main advantage is that I rarely feel even a tinge of nervousness nowadays and planning the worship isn’t too challenging. The down side is that recently, I realised I’ve been lacking in the most important step of preparation – prayer. When the confidence goes up, the prayer tends to go down.

Today, I had to lead the CNY traditional costume competition during sunday school. It was my first time addressing the whole room of people, but surprisingly, I felt relatively normal. I’m glad the feedback has been positive so far. But I think I need to expand my Chinese vocabulary.

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s easier (and nicer) to improvise on short songs rather than hymns. Although hymns come with SATB score, it’s hard to part with the original notation. For example, today, all Jean and I had on our music stand was a stack of power point slides, so we read the lyrics and tried to harmonise. In other words, we anyhow whacked and mom said it sounded as if someone arranged our parts.

2010-02-17T19:17:00.001+08:00

My Chinese New Year holiday has just come to a close. I enjoyed the long break. Apart from clearing up my pile of work, I was able to spend time with relatives, relax and unwind.

Now I think I’m charged enough and ready to face the hectic school life I’ve been warned about. I know it’s going to be tough, but yes, yes, I know, what doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger.

Another reason I’m feeling so accomplished is because I’ve found a Physics EE topic that interests me. Now I have to do more research and get down to the specifics of what I want to explore.

2010-02-12T20:59:00.001+08:00

It’s been a busy week. Orientation was fun, but it’s really a pity everyone has to split up just after getting to know each other more.

I met my new class today. Fortunately, there 4 girls in my class (including me) out of 27. I’m feeling intimidated because there are highly intelligent people in my class (scholars and GEPers). But on the bright side, maybe stress is good. I wouldn’t have been able to improve to where I am today if not for the change of environment I had in P6.

Today, there was CNY celebration in school. After school, I spent the rest of the day out for a third outing with my og.

Jie Ying, if you happen to see this, have a safe trip to Melbourne! Hope you have fun studying there.

2010-02-06T22:48:00.001+08:00

It’s been a busy and stressful week of lectures and piling up of assignments. I need the gears in my brain to start cranking. On the bright side, the whole of next week will be spent on orientation games and other less mass-brain-cell-massacre activities.

For the swimming meet, my 4x50 medley relay team came in last, but won silver. No wonder I was told that if you’re a girl, just sign up for any sports event and you’ll definitely win a medal. We were up against a strong team of year 6s, so we weren’t exactly aiming to win. Oh and it was extremely awkward at the swimming pool cus apart from the 8 girls competing in my event, the practice pool was crowded with guys. So you can imagine..

I’ve decided on my CCA – Philharmonic Orchestra, which is a string ensemble. I’ll probably be one of the lousiest players there. But I’m still confused over why the teacher didn’t want to hear me play first before accepting me.

I signed up for an interest group – Gardening. When I told mom and Jean, both of them literally went HAHAHAHA… for a good 5 minutes. Dad was so stunned he found peace only after I told him my main CCA would be the ensemble. After getting over my shocking news, mom decided I would come in handy at home – so that I can help tend to dad’s mini garden (our plant box just outside the window with dying tomato plants, but it’s dad’s pride).

2010-02-02T20:46:00.001+08:00

It’s my fourth day of school and I’m already facing assignments. I have a pile of things to read. Arghhhh. I hope I survive.

I have no idea how I was convinced to sign up for the swimming competition. There’s heats for one event tomorrow. The last time I swam was… ages ago.

On a side note, Jean and mom are so noisy… Jean has been eating dinner for the past half an hour and keeping mom entertained with her political comments/predictions for the next century. I can’t work with so much noise.

2010-01-29T23:44:00.001+08:00

The past 2 days have been rather packed with orientation talks and games. Evangeline and I are the only ones from SMSS there, which is quite scarce compared to other schools. On the other hand, most girls came from all-girls schools. Stepping into an originally all-boys school was and is still a little weird.

I’m quite tired now after water games in the afternoon and many hours of talks. I don’t think I’ll choose music as a subject for my first choice since I doubt I’ll have use for it. So it should be PCMeec. After listening to the talks, I really hope I’ll be able to cope with the demands of the programme cus it sounds really tough. Especially English. Oh well, take it as a challenge to grow from.

Thanks to the IP scholarship thing, my school fees are about a quarter of the original sum. With violin lessons (with the other stuff that go along with Diploma) and academics, I feel like I’m drilling a gigantic hole in mom and dad’s wallet. Better do them well then.

Kota Kinabalu

2010-01-26T20:07:00.005+08:00

I went for this holiday rather blindly because I didn't really know what I was going to do there. It turned out that we were visiting one of my grandfather's brothers and his family.

My granduncle works as a manager of a factory selling gases - argon, oxygen, acetylene and nitrogen. The picture below shows the gases kept in large cylinders. The gases are compressed and kept under pressures as high as 2000 pounds. My granduncle said once someone didn't open a jar properly and the gas knocked out 2 teeth. It's not so much of the gases being deadly, but more of the intense pressure at which they're kept under. But of couse, if something catches fire there.. I can't imagine. I learnt quite a bit of practical chemistry during the visit.

My granduncle took us to visit another granduncle who was also living in Sabah. The next picture shows a row of shophouses. My other granduncle owns the one with the yellow shades. The lower floor is his coffeeshop. My granduncle and his family live on the second floor. His family cooked lunch for us and the food was really good. Never judge a coffeeshop by its looks.

We ate durians at my other granduncle's coffeeshop. My grandfather, his brother and dad went to buy durians from a market nearby.

I saw orange durian flesh for the first time in my life. I was told there are red ones too. The best thing is, they're organic, so the colours are natural. Amazing right?

My granduncle keeps a pet turtle at his house. It's an endangered type. Over at Sabah, the people can keep anything they want. If you look at the picture closely, this picture was taken before I found out, to my horror, that the turtle was suddenly peeing. Now that I think about it, I feel bad for scaring the poor turtle.

My granduncle also took to visit a crocodile farm. The entrance had a notice which read "Visitors are to enter at their entire risk". It got us a bit worried at first but the Chan adventurers braved the crocodiles and emerged from the exit unscathed.

I don't have any pictures for this, but the the seafood there is very, very, very good. I ate fresh fish, prawns, crabs and lobsters almost every meal (I didn't touch any of the rubbery food like eels and squids). Ahh. Kota Kinabalu is a paradise for seafood lovers (definitely not Jean who only likes fish).

I learnt a lot about life in Kota Kinabalu during this trip. There are many illegal Filipino immigrants there and they mainly occupy an island nearby. The police don't dare to chase them out because they own M16s and other weapons. Terrorist groups look on them as potential recruits. I also got to taste fruit and vegetables which I never knew existed.

I'm too used to city life. I nearly couldn't stand the slow pace of living I saw. I still wonder how people there can just sit by the road and watch the day pass by.

2010-01-22T22:08:00.003+08:00

I'll be flying off to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, tomorrow morning with mom, dad, yeye and nai nai. Unfortunately, Jean has school, so she'll be staying in Singapore. I think she's looking forward to 4 fun days of independence. Our greatest fear is that she won't manage to wake up for school and church.

I've never been to East Malayisa before, so this'll be an interesting trip. I think I'll be visiting Mt. Kinabalu, but not climbing it, of course.

When I'm back, posting results will be out and school will finally start again.

When holidays first arrived, I felt so happy I could do everything I wanted to do. But after an overdose of it, I got tired of not having normal routines.

I'm a last minute person - I need to start packing my stuff, so bye for now.

2010-01-21T10:45:00.002+08:00

This is a letter from Jean to everyone. I doubt many people read this, but anyway, I’m just doing my part. Jean said I should do my best to ask people to vote for her so that I can get rid of her for a week (if she wins the first prize trip to Dreamworks studio in USA).

Hello,

Recently, a few friends and I took part in a total-defence animation competition for students across Singapore (N.E.mation! IV). This is our second year taking part in this competition (and making it to the top 10 teams too), and now the clips are open to public voting. We spent our entire September holidays last year refining the story and pitching it to the judges in order to get through to the top 10, and subsequently spent 3 weeks during our December holidays producing the clip.

Our story is basically about how the scale of care revolving around Singaporeans has grown over the years - from individual, all the way to national; hence the title “Carevolution”. It also shows the importance of care in the growth of our nation, through important historical events such as the “Bukit Ho Swee fire” and “SARS pandemic”. We used both rotoscoping (digitally tracing over recorded video footages frame-by-frame) and stop-motion animation techniques in Carevolution. All the buildings, backgrounds, characters and things you see in the animation were measured, drawn, cut, constructed and glued together by us, and we’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished. Even the characters were first filmed, then loaded into the computer, every frame digitally traced out, printed, pasted, cut out, and then placed in front of our hand-made backgrounds to be captured.

My friends and I would really appreciate you could support us by viewing our clip (http://nemation.sg/), and voting for C4. Voting ends on 1 Feb, so please hurry! Help spread the word, and get your family and friends to vote for us too, because (cliché as it may sound) every vote does make a difference, especially when 50% of the final results will be determined through public voting. The other 50% of the results will be determined by the judges. There are also attractive prizes such as Acer netbooks and Nintendo Wii’s to be won, simply by voting.

Steps to voting:
1. Go to (http://nemation.sg/).
2. View the Top 10 clips on the homepage (paying attention to C4...)
3. Select 3 of the 10 clips which you think deserve to win.
4. Click "Vote Now!".
5. Fill in your particulars and click "Vote Now!" again.
Team: Spoof (C4)
Title: Carevolution

Alternatively, you could view them on YouTube (http://3.ly/2yw7).

Also, if you’re interested in how we actually produced this piece of art, you can join us at our Facebook fanpage (http://3.ly/4Yz). We have uploaded videos and photos of our work, and we hope that by viewing them and getting a taste of what went on Behind-The-Scenes, you’ll be able to better appreciate our animation.
A huge amount of hard work has been put into this animation, and we really hope you’ll enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed producing it.

Thanks,

Jean Chan
Team Spoof (Methodist Girls’ School)

troublesomeness

2010-01-19T22:05:00.001+08:00

There’s 6F class gathering tomorrow and argh.. I’m never going to step into East Coast Park after tomorrow. Fine, I was exaggerating. I won’t go unless it’s absolutely necessary or when I can finally drive there. I spent 1 hour++ trying to figure how to get to the Macs side of ECP without having to take a taxi. When I finally calculated my route timings and finished off my alternative routes research, the printer refused to cooperate with me. Since I feel so insecure without a map, I’m glad some bit of creative juice left in me decided to send the map image to my phone. Sigh.